Blog posts by FLOW team and guest writers
Factory farms, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), threaten our waters with immense quantities of sewage, which too often are sprayed on fields where it can then runoff into streams and leach into groundwater — including into our drinking water. On August 8, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE ) will… Read more »
Facing facts and moving forward: Notes from the 2025 State of the Western Lake Erie Basin Conference. On June 26, the State of the Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB) conference, hosted by Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), brought together researchers, agency staff, and community advocates working in one of Michigan’s most… Read more »
Over 750 contamination sites in Michigan need immediate action to address human health exposure risks – but because of limited staff and funding, it will be years before all the sites are dealt with and the risks are controlled. That’s the result of a classification system the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE),… Read more »
Michigan sits at the heart of the Great Lakes—the largest freshwater system on Earth. Despite this abundance, our water resources are not immune to overuse and mismanagement. A 2024 audit released by the Office of the Auditor General highlighted several important areas where the state’s water withdrawal program can be improved to better protect our… Read more »
The Michigan Hydro Relicencing Coalition* opposes a plan by Consumers Energy to sell 13 hydropower projects for $1 each, and then enter into a 30-year power purchase agreement with the buyers. Here’s why: Consumers Energy will be able to pass along the cost of the power purchase agreements to its ratepayers. The new owners will… Read more »
Flow Water Advocates recently teamed up with members of the Presbyterian Church of Traverse City for a community beach clean up of Acme Township Bayside Park. With six small teams, volunteers spread out across the sand, picking up everything from bottle caps to forgotten beach toys buried too deep in the sand. The five most… Read more »
July 1, 2025Kacey Cook, Flow Staff Attorney In June 2024, the federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision to send Attorney General Dana Nessel’s 2019 suit Nessel v. Enbridge back to state court where it started. The Sixth Circuit held that Enbridge’s removal of AG Nessel’s lawsuit to federal court, more than two… Read more »
June 30, 2025 Traverse City, Mich. – Today, Flow Water Advocates, a Great Lakes water protection organization, with sign-on from the Sierra Club Environmental Law Program and Surfrider Foundation, submitted written comments on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 tunnel project. Line 5 Webinar Registration… Read more »
Watch the webinar recording! Facing competition, declining fossil fuel demand, and challenges building new pipelines in Canada, Enbridge is working overtime to convince Michiganders that we’re dependent on Line 5, but that’s not true. On July 22, join Flow Water Advocates and Oil & Water Don’t Mix for a special live webinar, as our panel… Read more »
By Carrie La Seur, Legal Director — The late afternoon sun, hours from sunset as the days stretch out, promises the first true warmth of spring. It’s 5 p.m. on April 25, 2025, and I nestle into the snug seat of my red, white, and blue Jackson river kayak. The Alma impoundment, usually a green,… Read more »
