Rep. Rachel Hood (D-81) and Rep. Donavan McKinney (D-14)
This month, Michigan House Rep. Rachel Hood (D-81) and Rep. Donavan McKinney (D-14) introduced important bills (HB 6273, 6274), based on FLOW’s model legislation, that would impose a $0.25 per gallon royalty on bottled drinking water extracted from Michigan’s publicly-held water resources (including groundwater), and create a Water Trust Fund. The Fund would use the royalties to address a number of water infrastructure and accessibility needs, including:
- Help for low-income families struggling to pay water bills
- Grants to local governments for lead service line replacement, contamination remediation, and emergency water supplies
- Local public health department funding for water testing and implementation of septic system regulations
By recouping twenty-five cents per gallon from water bottling companies, the trust fund could generate between $250-300 million annually, and help address Michigan’s $1 billion in annual water infrastructure needs. This mechanism for funding water infrastructure and accessibility is a bold, forward-thinking solution, and affirms public protection of Michigan’s waters. But it is also not without precedent.
Forty years ago, in November 1984, Michigan voters overwhelmingly approved constitutional protection for the state Natural Resources Trust Fund (NRTF.) This fund has become a model for other states.
Bankrolled by revenue from oil and gas drilling on state lands, the NRTF funds the purchase and development of recreational and environmentally significant lands for state and local governments. Because constitutional protection assures that these funds cannot be diverted by legislators to other purposes, Michigan voters can be confident that the NRTF will for decades continue to assure an increase in the amount of public land devoted to recreation and environmental protection.
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NRTF and its predecessor have enabled hundreds of projects worth more than $1.3 billion. There is an NRTF-supported project in every county of the state.
A tradition has developed that further strengthens the NRTF. When the five-member NRTF Board recommends projects to the Legislature for funding approval, lawmakers typically accept and approve the list without political gamesmanship.
Public lands will become increasingly important as the population grows and the climate changes. The need for clean, abundant public waters will also increase.
FLOW has been working with Rep. Hood, Rep. McKinney, and other lawmakers to address Michigan’s water infrastructure and accessibility needs with a 21st-century analog to the Natural Resources Trust Fund. FLOW authored this legislation to bring the colliding crises of water extraction, failing infrastructure, and water affordability under a comprehensive legal framework, and to recalibrate Michigan’s priorities on protecting its water and its people.
By establishing the Water Trust Fund, Michigan can lead the way and assure that our water remains public, safe, and affordable for all.
