Blog posts by FLOW team and guest writers
Adapted from a piece that originally appeared on his Substack, Flow senior policy advisor Dave Dempsey breaks down the threat of Great Lakes water diversions, and what the Great Lakes Compact does — and does not — protect. One of the few issues that unites more than 90% of the Michigan voting public is strong opposition… Read more »
Flow Water Advocates announces its next executive director; Liz Kirkwood to assume new leadership role. October 23, 2026 TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Flow Water Advocates has named Katrina Shankland as its new executive director, following a robust nationwide search. Shankland, who begins on Oct. 26, is Flow’s second executive director. Liz Kirkwood, who passes the… Read more »
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 29, 2026 TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — On September 25, 2026, the Michigan Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals’ refusal to hear Flow Water Advocates’ appeal challenging the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and its permitting practices for industrial agriculture pollution. Flow appealed to the High Court… Read more »
Filing comes after Michigan Supreme Court decision overturned another Line 5 permit approval September 10, 2026 Lansing, MI. – Today, four environmental organizations jointly filed a petition with Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) requesting a contested case hearing on a Water Resource Permit the agency approved for Enbridge’s Line 5 Tunnel… Read more »
Originally published October 6, 2023; updated February 29, 2024; re-published on September 15, 2026 in memoriam of Skip Pruss By Skip Pruss, Flow Senior Advisor In what is among the most comprehensive clean energy initiatives in the country, Michigan has become the first industrialized swing state to enact laws requiring 100 percent of electric power… Read more »
Our webinar has now concluded. Watch the video recording. TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — In spite of being located in the heart of the Great Lakes, Michigan’s water infrastructure is aging and persistently underfunded, and too many Michiganders live without clean, safe drinking water. On September 21, Flow Water Advocates will present a special live… Read more »
September 9, 2026 Traverse City, Mich. — Today, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and her administration issued a consequential new statement on Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 pipeline tunnel through the Straits of Mackinac, telling the Canadian company that it’s time to pull back from its tunnel plan that will put the Great Lakes at risk for… Read more »
RSVP: Celebration of Skip’s life, to be held Saturday, October 24 in Northport. By Liz Kirkwood, Executive Director, Flow Water Advocates Michigan has lost one of its most valiant defenders and stewards. Stanley “Skip” Pruss, husband, father, grandfather, friend, environmental attorney, clean energy expert and champion, and a cherished member of the team here at… Read more »
Every day, hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) flow across the Straits of Mackinac through two 20-inch pipelines that have proven vulnerable to anchors dropped by passing freighters and barges. There’s a broad consensus for the need to remove the aging pipelines and reduce the risk of a… Read more »
Fast-tracked under a January 2025 presidential executive order declaring a trumped-up “energy emergency,” the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced its decision to approve the Canadian company Enbridge’s pipeline tunnel through Lake Michigan at the Straits of Mackinac. The proposed tunnel would house the Enbridge Line 5 pipelines, which terminate in Sarnia, Ontario, and… Read more »
