Blog posts by FLOW team and guest writers
FLOW has joined a coalition of over 350 farm, food, and rural organizations calling for the passage of the Honor Farmer Contacts Act, which would order the USDA to unfreeze contracts that were targeted by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk. The contracts were related to local and organic food… Read more »
Rural Michigan may have a smaller population than Michigan’s urban areas, but viewed from another perspective, it is just as – if not more – densely populated. Rural Michigan has a hidden population that doesn’t play by the same rules as our human neighbors – especially when it comes to waste disposal. Michigan’s livestock population… Read more »
What do you know about drinking water? Take the quiz at the bottom! It’s Drinking Water Week – a time to remember where your drinking water comes from, what the threats to your drinking water are, and what you can do about them. Despite today’s problems, public drinking water has come a long way. It… Read more »
A septic system is an underground wastewater treatment system for homes that are not connected to a city sewer system. When regularly pumped and maintained, a septic system efficiently manages the wastewater produced in a house. These systems generally work very well, and are “out of sight, out of mind.” But when a septic system… Read more »
Fremont, Michigan is a rural community in west Michigan’s Newaygo County, about an hour north of Grand Rapids. Since 2012 it has been home to a huge anaerobic digester, owned since 2017 by the Delaware-incorporated company Generate Upcycle, part of multi-billion dollar “clean energy” investment firm Generate Capital. Anaerobic digesters use bacteria to decompose organic… Read more »
Early this winter, FLOW and students from the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) graduate program teamed up for a 16-month initiative to examine Michigan’s groundwater management and propose a statewide strategy to ensure long-term, sustainable groundwater governance. Protecting and managing groundwater is particularly complex given the lack of comprehensive data, fragmented… Read more »
A critical Great Lakes program is at risk of being eliminated by federal budget cuts. Vitally important to science and society, the Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS) could shrink or vanish if proposals in Washington, D.C., become reality. And that would be a major blow to our ability to understand and protect the Great Lakes…. Read more »
By: Carrie La Seur, FLOW Legal Director Rivers tell tales. They remember what’s been done to them, decades back. They report on what happened this morning. They don’t lie or hold back the truth. It’s all there, in sediments and suspended solids, temperature, pH, chemical load. Sit a minute and listen to what the Pine… Read more »
A coalition of water advocates have developed model legislation to protect water quality, advance water equity, ensure that the waters of the State remain a public resource, and provide communities and water utilities with a steady source of funding to address water affordability and infrastructure needs. The key provisions of the legislation address long-standing, increasingly… Read more »
In this episode of Living Sustainably, FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood sits down with Living Sustainably host Lyla Hollis to talk all things water — how we protect it, why it matters, and what clean water means for our communities. Tune in to learn creative ways YOU can get involved in water protection where you live!… Read more »
