Blog posts by FLOW team and guest writers
Budgets are policy. Just as much as new laws and rules. So when Governor Whitmer announced a $120 million clean water initiative Tuesday, it did a lot to validate her rhetoric about being a governor who values our water resources. It’s a big change for Michigan. Some of the $120 million in new general fund money will… Read more »
Above: FLOW Board member JoAnne Cook (left) with the late Josephine Mandamin (right). In late February, Josephine Mandamin of the Anishinabek Nation, affectionately known as Grandma Josephine and Grandmother Water Walker, passed away at 77. Grandma Josephine was famed for leading a Great Lakes water walk to dramatize the importance of guarding this essence of… Read more »
There are an estimated 2.8 million trillion gallons of groundwater, 30.1 percent of the world’s freshwater. An estimated 79.6 billion gallons of groundwater is withdrawn daily, or 26 percent of the water withdrawn in the U.S. From 2010 to 2015, groundwater use in the United States increased by 8.3% while surface water use declined by… Read more »
photo by Beth Price The Town of Long Beach, Indiana, runs along a wide stretch of sandy Lake Michigan beach just below the southwest corner of Michigan. Residences, and a series of public access corridors, extend to the shore from the town’s Lake Shore Drive. More homes extend inland along winding streets, hills, and vistas, all… Read more »
If the 66-year-old Enbridge Line 5 pipelines fail in the Straits of Mackinac, who will pay for the oil spill clean-up costs and damages to residents, coastal communities, businesses, and our public waters? Michigan citizens may believe they are protected, at least at some level, by the insurance Enbridge should be required to have in… Read more »
photo by Lauren Hucek Michigan has many candidates for the most scenic drive in America. In my mind, any road that offers remarkable water vistas should join the list. The first 40 miles of US-2 traveling west from St. Ignace are among the most spectacular in the country, as the road rises and falls, opening up views… Read more »
After last year’s election, newly chosen leaders and the old guard with a few weeks left in Lansing rushed in opposite directions. The Snyder administration and legislators intensified their unprecedented, legally questionable attacks on water, the environment, and public health during a lame-duck feeding frenzy. The new guard, Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana… Read more »
My favorite way to challenge myself is by traveling. It is the simplest way of removing every comfortable aspect of my life, and replacing it with new perspectives, people, and customs. The further away from home I travel, the more challenges I encounter, and the more my perspective changes. While international travel can be expensive… Read more »
Some gifts come after the lights and music of the holiday season drift into the snowy weeks of the New Year. We at FLOW are delighted to share a gift just sent to us from Courtney Hammer, our first legal intern, who spent the summer of 2014 here in Traverse City helping us research law… Read more »
Of all the blows former Governor Rick Snyder and the lame-duck Legislature delivered in late 2018 to Michigan environmental policy, one stands out — a new law intended to thwart state rules that go beyond weak federal minimums. This seemingly abstract law in fact repudiates 50 years of efforts by state officials to act in… Read more »
