by Liz Kirkwood, Executive Director
For fourteen years, Flow Water Advocates has stood on a simple, powerful truth: The waters of the Great Lakes belong to everyone—and must be protected for all time.
Not just for this generation. Not just for human use. But for the entire living water cycle that sustains our region, our communities, and our future.
What began as a bold legal vision by our founder, Jim Olson, has become a trusted force for Great Lakes protection—using law, science, policy, and people-powered advocacy to defend clean water as a shared public trust and commons.
Support Flow’s work to defend the Great Lakes.
Jim Olson remarked: “FLOW means more to me than ever because I have come to realize that the single most important thing we can do to sustain life, community, culture, and economy — now and for future generations — is to shift as rapidly as possible to a water-centric, water cycle framework for global, regional, and local policy, decisions, and action: If we protect the integrity of water — quality and quantity — in every watershed and hydrosphere, humankind and all life will make it through the difficult challenges ahead. FLOW is one of a handful of nonprofit organizations whose mission and work embrace this and is dedicated to this water-centric reality.”
From vision to impact.
Flow Water Advocates was founded at a time early in this century when industrial pressure, water privatization, weakening regulations, and climate disruption were putting the Great Lakes at serious risk. From the very beginning, our mission was clear:
- Defend the people’s rights to water under the public trust doctrine
- Hold polluters accountable
- Protect groundwater and surface water as one hydrologically-connected living system
- Safeguard water for future generations
Over the last 14 years, our work has expanded from strategic policy interventions into a holistic legal, policy, and advocacy strategy to achieve long-term water protection by addressing pollution, over-extraction, infrastructure failure, privatization, and climate-driven threats across the Great Lakes basin.
What we’ve achieved — together.
With the support of our community, Flow has:
- Built and advanced the public trust legal case for the Governor and the Attorney General to revoke and terminate the Line 5 easement.
- Earned a landmark leave for appeal from the Michigan Supreme Court to make our case against the MPSC’s Line 5 tunnel permit.
- Worked with tribes and conservation, angler, and hunting groups to win a ban on net-pen aquaculture in the Great Lakes.
- Successfully advocated for an executive directive for State of Michigan procurement programs to seek alternatives to products laden with PFAS “forever chemicals.”
- Worked with local governments and state agencies to adopt climate-resilient strategies to manage stormwater, address flooding, and build green infrastructure.
- Published two influential reports on gaps in groundwater policy, and convened diverse stakeholders to establish the Groundwater Table, which in 2023 secured $23.8 million for the collection and management of important data on Michigan’s groundwater.
- Collaborated with the MSU Institute for Water Research to examine the economic costs of state policy that limits public uses of groundwater rather than cleaning it up, and make policy recommendations to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE).
- Drafted model legislation, the Michigan Water Trust Fund Act to make bottled water companies pay their fair share for their use of publicly-held water resources; and support critical water infrastructure and affordability needs.
- Successfully advocated for the International Joint Commission to adopt a public trust framework for banning Great Lakes water diversions and cleaning up Lake Erie.
- Helped the community of Fremont, Michigan make their voices heard and resist the continued operation of an anaerobic digester that was polluting the ground, water, and emitting noxious odors.
Behind every case stands a team of committed advocates, scientists, community members, and supporters who believe clean water is not optional—it is essential.
Powered by people.
- This work is made possible by:
- Our staff, whose expertise and dedication drive every legal and policy action
- Our board, who provide mission-rooted governance and strategy
- Our supporters and partners, who fund, stand with, and strengthen this work every day
Flow Water Advocates is a collective effort—and this anniversary belongs to all of you.
Guided by enduring principles.
Our work is shaped by values that remain constant:
- Water is a public trust, not a commodity
- Intergenerational equity requires us to protect water for children not yet born
- The water cycle is one system—groundwater, rivers, wetlands, and lakes are inseparable
- Strong science must guide strong law
These principles connect our past victories to our future strategy.
The work ahead.
Today, the Great Lakes face escalating threats—from climate volatility and industrial pressure to weakened enforcement and growing water extraction. The need for strong, independent legal advocacy has never been greater.
In the years ahead, Flow Water Advocates will focus on:
- Defending groundwater as a public trust resource
- Strengthening common-sense regulations and enforcement
- Advancing climate-resilient water protections
- Preventing harmful extraction and industrial impacts
- Building the next generation of Great Lakes defenders
A shared responsibility across generations: The Great Lakes hold 20% of the world’s surface freshwater. What we protect today will shape life for centuries to come.
Fourteen years in, Flow Water Advocates remains guided by one unwavering belief:
Water is life. And protecting it is a responsibility we all share.
With gratitude — and resolve: Thank you to our staff, board, partners, supporters, and the communities we serve. Your commitment has made every victory possible.
As we enter our 15th year, we do so with gratitude for how far we’ve come — and unwavering resolve for the work ahead.
The work continues. The waters endure. And together, so do we.
