Our programs
Who we are
Our story is about water.
20 percent of the world’s fresh surface water – and the need to educate citizens and leaders about protecting the Great Lakes as a commons held in public trust now and for future generations. At FLOW (For Love of Water), we believe the enduring ideas of the commons and legal principles of the public trust can offer unifying adaptive solutions to address systemic basin-wide threats, increased water conflicts, diversions, and climate change impacts.
Groundwater protection
The volume of groundwater in the Great Lakes watershed is roughly equal to the volume of Lake Huron. Often overlooked because it is out of sight, Michigan’s groundwater is an immense asset and life-giving resource.
Michigan has the most private drinking water wells drilled annually of any state. About
45% of the state’s population depends on groundwater for its drinking water. Daily groundwater withdrawals in Michigan total over 260 million gallons for irrigation as well as 64 million gallons from on-site wells for industrial purposes. As much as 42% of the water in the Great Lakes originates from groundwater.
Michigan’s groundwater is compromised and deteriorating. Our groundwater is plagued by widespread pollution, with over 3,000 groundwater sites whose contamination is so severe that state law bars their further use.
Some may argue it is too costly to clean up and protect Michigan’s groundwater, but it is costlier to ignore the problem. We are transferring these increasing costs to our children and future generations. The state has not yet reckoned with cleanup costs for contaminated groundwater, let alone the costs to public health and infrastructure.
The state of Michigan’s groundwater will not improve without changes in policy and practice.
Defending the Great Lakes
Line 5 is owned and operated by Enbridge, the same Canadian corporation responsible for the 2010 spill of more than 1.2 million gallons of heavy tar sands oil into the Kalamazoo River watershed near Marshall, Michigan. That spill sickened more than 300 people, permanently drove more than 150 people from their homes and properties, and continues to harm the environment to this day. It took four years and over $1.2 billion to clean it up to the extent
and remains one of the largest inland oil spills in U.S. history.
Explore more on Line 5 and watch recorded webinars, share the Line 5 Action Tool kit, and find ways to get involved in the fight to shut down Line 5!
Factory farm waste
One of the major concerns surrounding CAFOs is water pollution. These facilities produce immense quantities of sewage, including chemical and biological hazards, disposed of primarily by field application. This sewage can leach into groundwater or runoff into nearby surface waters during rain events or through buried drainage networks that pipe leachate directly to surface drains and streams. High
levels of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus flow to waterways, fueling algal blooms. One result is plummeting oxygen levels in water, creating “dead zones” where aquatic life struggles to survive. Toxic algal blooms played a central role in the 2014 Toledo water crisis, when the Lake Erie water source for the entire city became undrinkable and toxic on human contact
Clean drinking water for all
Michigan faces a water infrastructure funding gap—a need exceeding available resources—of approximately $800 million per year to properly manage wastewater, drinking water, and stormwater. Closing this funding gap is imperative if Michigan is to continue meeting its responsibility to promote public health, protect the environment, and prevent household water shutoffs.
Access to clean water for all is a human right and even more vital during emergencies including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate crisis, widespread household water shutoffs in Detroit and elsewhere, and the Flint water crisis. The cost of
inaction and the failure to fund water infrastructure continues to result in more water shutoffs; flooded basements and freeways; sewer overflows into surface water; degraded lakes, streams, and groundwater; well contamination from PFAS and other emerging contaminants; contamination from septic tanks; phosphorus pollution; and overall increased health risks and deteriorating communities.
