Protecting the Great Lakes through Education and Public Policy At the heart of our mission, FLOW is dedicated to educating and empowering citizens and leaders to know and use their rights under the public trust doctrine — with the government as trustee of our shared resources and citizens as beneficiaries — to solve systemic threats… Read more »
2026 Report A Groundwater Strategy for Michigan: Protect the “Sixth Great Lake” University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), in partnership with Flow Water Advocates, released the report, A Groundwater Strategy for Michigan: Protecting the “Sixth Great Lake”. The report is the product of a 16-month initiative to examine Michigan’s groundwater management and… Read more »
THANK YOU! Year after year, we are overwhelmed by the commitment and generosity of our donors. We are deeply grateful to the individuals and families whose gifts have supported our mission to protect the Great Lakes for current and future generations to enjoy. We pledge to make a lasting difference with your investment in FLOW. (Click… Read more »
Current Board Gary Appel Tom Baird Mike Dettmer Phil Ellis Katie Horvath Renee Huckle Mittelstaedt Rick Kane Emma Lui Sarah Naperala Bob Otwell Skip Pruss Royce Ragland Keith Schneider Kate Thornhill Mike Vickery Emily Wurth Former Board Ross Biederman Lew Coulter Ted Curran Eric Olson Rich Vanderveen Current Staff Liz Kirkwood, Executive Director Dave Dempsey,… Read more »
FLOW applies tools drawn from science, art, and public trust law to protect the Great Lakes and their tributaries, and the public’s right to use these wondrous waters. We educate and empower citizens and communities to wield the power of the public trust doctrine to defend the public ownership of water against privatization schemes. We… Read more »
Prioritizing Great Lakes Protection in Key Discussions about Our Shared FutureThe Great Lakes hold one-fifth of the earth’s fresh surface water. More than 35 million people rely on the Great Lakes for drinking water, jobs, and a way of life. Yet all too often protecting our water is not part of the equation when leaders… Read more »
Challenging Harmful “Net-pen” and Antiquated “Flow-through” Aquaculture Operations in the Great Lakes Commercial aquaculture or fish farming takes various forms in tanks, ponds, rivers, lakes, and the ocean. Current legislative proposals are now on the table to use the open waters of the Great Lakes on the U.S. side for commercial net-pen aquaculture and to expand… Read more »
Your Gift HAS A Lasting Impact Donate Today Click here to give online FLOW staff partnering in Lansing to save the Great Lakes It takes tremendous resources to do the work needed to save and protect the fresh bodies of water surrounding our beautiful state, and to safeguard the rights of Michigan citizens as… Read more »
Watch the Webinar here! Wilderness, Water, and Rust: A Journey toward Great Lakes Resilience asks us to consider what we value about life in the Great Lakes region and how caring for its remarkable ecosystems might help us imagine new, whole futures. Weaving together memories from her life in the upper Midwest with nearly fifty… Read more »
Longtime Great Lakes advocate Jane Elder’s new book, Wilderness, Water and Rust, (available from Michigan State University Press) is a compelling story of both progress and backsliding in policies and practices affecting the Lakes. It is also a memoir of growing up in Michigan and more than 40 years of fighting for a clean environment… Read more »
