Blog posts by FLOW team and guest writers
Every year on March 22, people around the world recognize World Water Day—a time to reflect on just how essential water is to our lives, our communities, and our future. Here in Michigan, water isn’t just important—it’s part of who we are. Surrounded by the Great Lakes and home to thousands of inland lakes, rivers,… Read more »
Register Now Flow Water Advocates and our allies are challenging the MPSC’s Line 5 tunnel permit in the Michigan Supreme Court, and you’re invited to a gathering and press conference in Lansing on March 11. Join in community at Lansing’s Central United Methodist Church at 9:00am to listen to oral arguments via livestream, make posters,… Read more »
Watch the septic webinar recording on YouTube. Traverse City, Mich. – Michigan’s water and public health are threatened by an estimated 330,000 failing septic systems, but new legislation (SB 771) recently introduced by Sen. Sam Singh (D-28) proposes common-sense statewide septic standards to help keep human and household wastes out of our lakes, rivers, and drinking water… Read more »
Read the comments In a joint effort to protect water quality and community health in mid-Michigan, the Socially Responsible Agriculture Project (SRAP) and Flow Water Advocates (Flow) have submitted detailed comments urging the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) to deny a proposed permit for KB Dairy, a large concentrated animal feeding… Read more »
On February 3, 2026, Flow, in partnership with Michiganders for a Just Farming System, hosted a virtual watch party for the KB Dairy public hearing. KB Dairy is a proposed CAFO facility in Gratiot County. The permittee has submitted materials to obtain coverage through a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. If approved, KB… Read more »
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we invite you to share a few words about why you love the Great Lakes. Is it the water, the memories, the wildlife, or the feeling of home they give you? Your story helps show what’s truly at stake when we work to protect them. Leave a note and… Read more »
Download PDF Our invisible water crisis. Michigan faces a long-standing and largely invisible water quality crisis driven by failing septic systems. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) estimates that 330,000 of Michigan’s 1.3 million septic systems are currently failing. Untreated sewage is entering groundwater, rivers, and lakes at alarming rates. Studies… Read more »
On December 31, 2025, the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund Act (OSLTF) expired.1 The OSLTF was first authorized to tax oil producers in 1990, and provided funds for federal responses to oil spills and compensation for certain damages.2 Without the OSLTF, states and taxpayers may be left on the hook for oil spill costs and… Read more »
By Dave Dempsey, Flow Senior Advisor My first memory of my nephew Michael comes from playing peekaboo. Using a toy with a see-through panel, I ducked in and out of view to his appreciative baby laughter. Pretty soon he was pulling the same trick on me. He was a quick learner. I would think of… Read more »
The role of indigenous cultures in sustainably living in relationship with wetlands is the theme of World Wetlands Day, February 2. In Michigan and the Great Lakes watershed, the theme has special relevance. For countless generations, the indigenous peoples of what is now called the State of Michigan have been sustained by – and have… Read more »
