Michigan has a gigantic opportunity to provide clean drinking water, clean up sewage and stormwater runoff, and restore the Great Lakes—while promoting access for all to clean, safe, affordable water—after last Friday’s final bipartisan Congressional action on the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act.
Equality of opportunity and treatment regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, language, culture, national origin, religious commitments, age, and ability status is an ideal to which FLOW is fully committed. In the arena of environmental quality and policy, this ideal is far from being realized. For example, pollution disproportionately affects racial minorities and… Read more »
In late September, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed into law a budget for state government that makes significant investments in environmental and energy programs. The funds will be spent in the state fiscal year that began October 1. Drinking water, climate resiliency and contamination cleanup programs received the largest allocations. Here are the highlights.
FLOW is welcoming donations here to the newly launched Olson-Dempsey Fund. A true watershed moment: As FLOW in 2021 marks our first 10 years of groundbreaking work on behalf of public trust rights and responsibilities in the Great Lakes, we honor two of the most ardent champions of public water and most inspiring leaders in… Read more »
FLOW is welcoming donations here to the newly launched Olson-Dempsey Fund. FLOW is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit; FLOW’s federal tax ID (EIN) is 45-4370935. A true watershed moment: As FLOW in 2021 marks our first 10 years of groundbreaking work on behalf of public trust rights and responsibilities in the Great Lakes, we honor two of… Read more »
Gathered in the gymnasium of the Flint Development Center, young representatives from the community organizations We the People of Detroit, the McKenzie Patrice Croom Flint Community Lab, and the Junction Coalition of Toledo spoke to an enraptured caucus on August 12 on their respective organizations, their summers advocating for water and environmental justice, and what adults can do to support them and their efforts.
Protection of the submerged lands of the Great Lakes that lie within Michigan’s jurisdiction is part of the state’s public trust duties. This represents a vast area, approximately 38,500 square miles of bottomland beneath four of the Great Lakes. By contrast, the size of the entire state of Indiana is 36,400 square miles.
Lynne Heasley’s new book, “The Accidental Reef and Other Ecological Odysseys in the Great Lakes,” is hot off the press. Hailed as “extraordinary,” “immersive,” and “one of the best Great Lakes books of our era,” Heasley’s book is complemented by the vivid, evocative art of Glenn Wolff, who illustrates the book. We interviewed her recently about her new book.
Even though Michigan is considered the Great Lake State, bordered by four of the five Great Lakes, and everyone needs freshwater, especially during a global pandemic, some Detroit suburbs like Oak Park and Hazel Park are resuming water shutoff policies after the statewide moratorium expired on March 31.
On the heels of the “once in 100 years” flooding event in 2014, nearly seven inches of rainfall overwhelmed the City of Detroit’s wastewater treatment facilities on Friday, June 25, and the following morning. As a result, rain and sewer water flooded basements all across the city. As soon as neighbors began reporting flooded basements, organizers with SW Detroit Community Care (SWDCC), a mutual aid coalition operating within Southwest Detroit, sprang into action, recruiting volunteers through social media to clean basements for whomever needed it.
