Michigan is the 22nd largest state if you consider only the land within its borders that is above water. But if you add its submerged lands, it’s the 11th largest. Much of the approximately 40,000 square miles of Michigan under water consists of Great Lakes submerged lands, which belong to the public and are managed… Read more »
For almost eight years, Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality has sided with resource exploitation over resource protection. MDEQ’s recent decisions to grant Nestle a 60% increase in the volume of water it can extract from springs near Evart for bottling and sale, and to authorize Enbridge Energy to bypass full environmental alternatives review and install… excerpt-read-more" href="https://forloveofwater.org/kind-environmental-agency-michigan-need/" title="ReadWhat Kind of Environmental Agency Does Michigan Need?”>Read more »
Last month, I took a plane out to Eugene, Oregon to visit my brother and his girlfriend. We spent most of our time playing pinball and visiting the local tea bar to try out various Oolongs, but one of the days out there, we decided to head out to the coast to see the water…. Read more »
The 10-year-old Great Lakes Compact is not just an agreement among eight states. It is also a compact between the citizens and public officials of those states. A decision yesterday in Wisconsin puts both compacts at risk. Wisconsin has now approved a diversion of up to 2.7 million gallons a day of Lake Michigan water to be… excerpt-read-more" href="https://forloveofwater.org/wisconsin-water-diversion-giveaway/" title="ReadThe Wisconsin Water Diversion Giveaway”>Read more »
FLOW’s organizing principle is the public trust doctrine. What sounds like an exotic concept is quite simple. This centuries-old principle of common law holds that there are some resources, like water and submerged lands that by their nature cannot be privately owned. Rather, these commons – including the Great Lakes — belongs to the public. And… excerpt-read-more" href="https://forloveofwater.org/running-michigans-water-ground/" title="ReadRunning Michigan’s Water Into the Ground”>Read more »
“This couldn’t be just a lake. No real water was ever blue like that. A light breeze stirred the pin-cherry tree beside the window, ruffled the feathers of a fat sea gull promenading on the pink rocks below. The breeze was full of evergreen spice.” — Dorothy Maywood Bird, “Mystery at Laughing Water” 2018 should… Read more »
This March, I met an amazing young woman from Flint named Kayla Shannon at Freshwater Future’s All About Water conference in Detroit, Michigan. This conference brought together an extraordinary group of people and organizations across the state from the grassroots, the environment and policy community, and academia, all committed to sharing their diverse experiences and… excerpt-read-more" href="https://forloveofwater.org/kryptonite-and-water/" title="ReadKryptonite and Water”>Read more »
FLOW’s organizing principle is the public trust doctrine. What sounds like an exotic concept is quite simple. This centuries-old principle of common law holds that there are some resources, like water and submerged lands that by their nature cannot be privately owned. Rather, these commons – including the Great Lakes — belongs to the public. And… excerpt-read-more" href="https://forloveofwater.org/common-water-public-health-common-good-just-term-public-trust-mean-anyway/" title="ReadCommon Water, Public Health, and the Common Good: Just What Does the Term “Public Trust” Mean Anyway?”>Read more »
Young people are changing the world. More evidence is an effort by a young Elk Rapids advocate, Zander Cabinaw, to help organize a June 3 event promoting awareness of aquatic invasive species prevention in the Great Lakes. Hundreds of canoeists, kayakers, paddleboarders and more will turn out for the event at the beach of Traverse… excerpt-read-more" href="https://forloveofwater.org/young-organizer-raises-awareness-june-3-floatila-traverse-city/" title="ReadA Young Organizer Raises Awareness with a June 3 “Floatila” in Traverse City”>Read more »
The MDEQ and the Snyder Administration have failed (again) to fulfill their public trust responsibilities as defenders of our waters. While we are continuing to analyze the state permit and accompanying documentation, and will have a comprehensive response in the near future, some things are clear. The DEQ issued Nestlé a permit to pump up… excerpt-read-more" href="https://forloveofwater.org/flow-statement-mdeq-approval-nestle-water-extraction-permit/" title="ReadFLOW Statement on MDEQ Approval of Nestlé Water Extraction Permit”>Read more »
