Blog Posts

Blog posts by FLOW team and guest writers

The Public Trust Doctrine Percolates into State Courts, Legislators, and Commissions to Protect Groundwater, Streams, Lakes, Economies and Quality of Life

July 17, 2018

“Water Justice Flows Like Water.”[1] Law professor Sprout D. Kapua’ala, borrowing from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I’ve Been to the Mountaintop speech in 1968 (“justice rolling down like waters”), captures decades of conflict over the streams and waters of Hawai’i, siphoned and dried from a century of withdrawals and diversion ditches cut across the landscape for… Read more »

Enjoying the Great Lakes This Summer

July 13, 2018

Summer in northern Michigan is one of our favorite things, and we are trying to enjoy it to the fullest while it is here. With all of the busyness this season, it does become a conscious effort. It’s not unusual to hear this around the FLOW office: “Wow, is it really already July?” There are… Read more »

Water: the Great Uniter

July 11, 2018

Last Thursday, July 6, was FLOW’s second annual An Evening for the Great Lakes hosted by amazing co-organizers Cammie Buehler and Jeremy Turner at the beautiful Cherry Basket Farms near Omena. What a fantastic night! We want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who made the event such a major success. Special thanks to incredible… Read more »

FLOW’s Vision to Address the World Water Crisis

July 3, 2018

“The water cycle and the life cycle are one” —- Jacques Cousteau   A White-Water Trip Down the Currents of the Public Trust Doctrine In ancient times, people knew water and the life cycles were the same. Without water, civilizations collapsed. Rome, with its dependence on water and the spokes of its aqueducts, knew this…. Read more »

Tapping into Local Awesomeness

July 2, 2018

The Local Movement Did you know that the City of Traverse City has been addressing plastic pollution, climate change, and water privatization for almost a decade? I’m so proud of our small but mighty Midwest town here in the heart of the Great Lakes. In 2009, our city adopted a resolution to ban plastic bottled water… Read more »

JoAnne Cook Brings New Perspective to FLOW

June 27, 2018

In May, Tribal law expert and educator JoAnne Cook joined FLOW’s Board of Directors. JoAnne, who lives in Northport, is a former Council member, Vice Chair and Acting Chair of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. She also served as Chief Judge of the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians. She is well… Read more »

Progress on Plastics

June 22, 2018

Roughly 500 million straws are used and disposed of in the United States every day.[1] Even though you might want to think that the majority of those straws end up in recycling facilities, the reality is that they do not. These tiny unnecessary tubes end up in landfills, city streets, beaches, oceans, and even the… Read more »