This is the second of four reports by former FLOW board chair, and former director of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth, Skip Pruss that make the economic case for government’s role in protecting the environment. FLOW will unveil the last two reports in the coming months.
The IJC heard concerns for threats to the Great Lakes when it visited Traverse City on July 24: Enbridge Line 5, nuclear waste storage, invasive species, bottled water, plastics and privatization, and harmful algal blooms. But the most threatening concern, one that drives or is exacerbated by the others, was the elephant in the room: the unprecedented record high water levels, which are causing havoc throughout the Great Lakes region.
We can outthink clever buffalo who know how to turn on water spigots at campsites in the dry southwestern United States. The larger problem is that many folks, including state employees, have their heads in the sand when it comes to solutions that will prevent future catastrophes like running out of water. Unless people in the West start seriously restraining their unlimited development and deal with declining water levels, they will soon be eyeing our bulging Great Lakes to solve their self-induced problems.
During this high-water month of July, FLOW will publish video postcards each weekday that feature Michiganders (and citizens of the Great Lakes Basin) explaining what the Public Trust Doctrine means to us and how our precious, publicly-owned fresh water shapes our lives and relationship to this place we call home.
Michigan’s estimated 140,000 compromised septic systems aren’t just a water pollution problem — they’re a threat to human health. A new video documentary produced by Joe VanderMeulen of NatureChange.org and sponsored by FLOW, the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council (NMEAC), Leelanau Clean Water, and the Benzie Conservation District underscores the serious health risks posed by a hidden pollution source fouling groundwater, lakes, streams and drinking water across Michigan. Evidence is growing that on-site septic systems, used to handle and break down sewage and other household wastes in areas without public sewage treatment systems, are contributing to disease.
Photo: A lack of septic regulations can lead to waste in our treasured waters. You wouldn’t “do it in the river,” would you? By Dave Dempsey Michigan prides itself on being an environmental leader, particularly in curbing water pollution. But in one area of water policy, Michigan is dead last among the 50 states. It… Read more »
By Jim Olson I don’t mean to dampen the joy of spring in Michigan, but amidst headlines over Line 5 and unconscionable groundwater contamination from PFAS, we need to embolden our governor, our state officials, and every citizen who cares about water, justice, and the rule of law to join another battle. We need to hoist the mast of Michiganders’… Read more »
The Crown Jewel Saturday is the opening day of the trout fishing season, a high holy holiday to those of us who love to cast a fly in Michigan’s coldwater rivers and streams. I’ll be knee deep in the Holy Waters section of the Au Sable River by 10 a.m. There’s nothing else like it…. Read more »
With an estimated 130,000 septic systems leaking E. coli and other pollutants into Michigan groundwater, lakes, and streams, you would hardly think it time to relax inspection requirements. But that’s exactly what Kalkaska County is considering this spring – and this has some local residents and environmental experts concerned. Kalkaska County has a sanitary code… Read more »
Freshwater Facts Only freshwater will sustain human life. About 97% of the water on earth is salt water. Of the remaining fraction of approximately 3% that is freshwater, over 98% is locked in ice caps, glaciers and groundwater. Of the remaining fraction of about 1.2% of all freshwater, about .25% is found at the surface… Read more »
