Blog posts by FLOW team and guest writers
The launch of FLOW’s new website comes at the same time FLOW’s work (beginning back in 2009 when Terry Swier, President of Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, my brother Eric Olson, Ted Curran, and a few others, saw the need to educate leaders and the public on the overarching principle known as the public trust… Read more »
By Jim Olson This has been a long time coming, inevitable really: Since the California Supreme Court’s decision in the National Audubon “Mono Lake” case back in the 1980s, courts have recognized the hydrologic connection between navigable and non-navigable but tributary streams and the groundwater that replenishes them. Indeed, it would be archaic to recognize… Read more »
By Jim Olson, President FLOW (For Love of Water) We can be thankful that nations of the world have opened the door to the foyer to address climate change. Most encouraging is the senses of cooperation to protect this home we call earth. The other end of the promise and hope of the Paris… Read more »
An alarming piece of legislation was introduced last week by Rep. Heise and is quickly being moved to committee Thursday, May 14th. It would exempt oil & gas companies like Enbridge from disclosing pipeline and energy-related information under Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). We need more information on critical pipelines like Line 5, not less!… Read more »
Blueprint for the Great Lakes Trail Melissa K. Scanlan Vermont Law School July 31, 2014 Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law, July 31, 2014. Vermont Law School Research Paper No. 14-14 Abstract: The Great Lakes are vast yet vulnerable. There is a need to focus the public’s attention on the significance of the lakes… Read more »
A great article from the Blade, a Toledo newspaper, was just published which supports the need for a strong “waters of the US” rule under the Clean Water Act. This rule would insure that wetlands and tributary waters of the Great Lakes are not diminished, impaired, and the Great Lakes ecosystem and waters are not damaged. The article… Read more »
Detroit’s Bankruptcy and Water Shutoffs Strike a Blow to the Rights and Public Trust in Water of Detroit’s Poor By Jim Olson[1] Detroit’s emergency manager filed for bankruptcy in July 2013 to force creditors to negotiate a bankruptcy plan that would slash the city’s unwieldy debt, and, it appeared, to derail a… Read more »
http://greatlakesecho.org/2014/10/30/great-lakes-fishery-managers-need-insight-on-climate-change-impacts/ Great Lakes fishery managers need insight on climate change impacts By: GREAT LAKES ECHO | 6 HOURS AGO By Duygu Kanver Great Lakes fishery managers worry that their operations may be harmed by invasive species, habitat loss and climate change in the long run, according to a new study. The study focuses on their… Read more »
By MARK BRUSH The Environment Report A diver inspects Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac for a possible dent. Credit an Enbridge inspection video shared with the state of Michigan Listen Listening… Listen to the second part of our answer to a “M I Curious” question about the Straits pipeline We’ve been… Read more »
Groundbreaking Report on U.S. Freshwater Crisis Charting New Waters report provides recommendations for transforming U.S. water infrastructure after 6-year examination A new report on water and sewer infrastructure in this century. Here’s a business oriented report based on series of convenings by Johnson Foundation. As you can see, the report concludes with a set of recommendations, one set generally… Read more »
