Search Results for: Line 5

Record-High Water Levels Present Tough Times for Great Lakes Beach Walkers

March 18, 2020

The beaches along Michigan’s west coast have all but disappeared under the rising water levels of Lake Michigan as well as the other Great Lakes. In fact, lake levels haven’t been this high in well over 100 years. They reached an all-time low in 2013 before a meteoric rise brought them to an all-time high in just 7 years. If you love taking long walks along the lake shore, the high water and waves might just push you inland and on to private property. What can you do? Do you still have a right to walk the Great Lakes shorelines?

Michigan’s Ottawa County has a Groundwater Conundrum

March 18, 2020

In the Great Lakes state, we think of water as abundant, if not inexhaustible. Not far from Grand Rapids and Muskegon, Ottawa County is bordered on the west by the bulging waters of an engorged Lake Michigan. However, over the past 30 years, increasing use of groundwater is causing water shortages and increasing pollution within the groundwater supply.

FLOW Office Closes through at least March 27 in Response to Coronavirus

March 16, 2020

As the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) intensifies here in the Great Lakes region and beyond, our thoughts are with those everywhere whose health and well-being are impacted. To ensure the safety of our staff, board, volunteers, and visitors, we have closed our office in downtown Traverse City through Friday, March 27—or longer, if needed, in response to emerging information and rapidly changing circumstances.

Onus is on State, Not Citizens, to Turn on Water in Detroit

March 3, 2020

Since when is the burden of proof on residents to prove a health crisis to get a drink of water from the tap in their home? By refusing to grant relief to tens of thousands of residents in Detroit, the State has effectively deprived citizens of their rights under public trust law.

New Book About International Joint Commission Takes Hard Look at U.S.-Canada Water Relationship

February 10, 2020

The First Century of the International Joint Commission is the definitive history of the International Joint Commission (IJC), which oversees and protects the shared waters of the United States and Canada. Created by the Boundary Waters Treaty (BWT) of 1909, it is one of the world’s oldest international environmental bodies. A pioneering piece of trans-border water governance, the IJC has been integral to the modern U.S.-Canada relationship, especially in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin.

Delivering an Environmentally-strong State of the State—the Milliken Way

January 27, 2020

Michigan Governor William Milliken outlined a sweeping attack on environmental degradation in both his annual State of the State address on January 15, 1970, and a special message to the Legislature solely on environmental issues, on January 22, 1970. “Milliken Urges War on Pollution,” read a Detroit Free Press headline.

Why the Trump Administration’s Attack on the National Environmental Policy Act Matters

January 15, 2020

On the first day of 1970—a hallmark year for the environmental movement—President Richard Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act into law. A milestone in the protection of America’s environment, NEPA has been nicknamed the “Magna Carta” of American environmental law. On its 50th anniversary, it’s important to remember why NEPA has been so important—especially now that the Trump Administration is proposing to weaken it via regulation.

Safeguarding and Reclaiming the Public Water Commons and a Human Right to Water and Health

January 15, 2020

Maude’s new book, “Whose Water Is It Anyway?: Taking Water Protection into Public Hands” is a combination of big picture world water crisis, personal story, water policy, conflicts, and solution. Here is a short readable book, a book you can slip into your purse, backpack, or even suit coat pocket, to take with you into the city hall, the boardroom, the classroom, or statehouse. It’s a story that should be read by everyone who cares about liberty, dignity, harmony, and the common good of people and planet.

The Case of the Green Ooze

January 8, 2020

It’s disappointing that it took creeping green ooze to awaken state officials in Lansing to a monumental environmental problem — thousands of dirty groundwater contamination sites across the state. But that’s exactly what has happened.