FLOW’s organizing principle is the public trust doctrine. What sounds like an exotic concept is quite simple. This 1500-year old principle of common law holds that there are some resources, like water and submerged lands, that by their nature cannot be privately owned. Rather, this commons – like the Great Lakes — belongs to the… Read more »
Jim Maturen of Reed City is a lifelong conservationist who looked personally into the concern that Nestle’s water withdrawals are affecting critical and sensitive trout streams. He did it the old-fashioned way – he went out in the streams. We asked him for his observations. The controversy over Nestlé’s extraction of water in Osceola County… Read more »
A sampling of recent news coverage involving FLOW Research shows Great Lakes algae and microplastics connect March 21, 2021 Scientists discovered plastic microfibers in the Great Lakes are sticking to green algae that grows along the bottomlands in a way that could help keep the pollution out of the environment. Liz Kirkwood, executive director for Traverse… Read more »
The state pipeline safety advisory board met Monday to discuss next steps on Line 5 at the Straits of Mackinac, in the wake of new revelations about shoddy Line 5 maintenance by Enbridge. FLOW’s statement at the meeting said enough is known about the pipeline’s condition and poor maintenance for the state to immediately revoke the… Read more »
This article is a follow-up to my January post on “Groundwater – Invisible but Precious.”On a recent bike tour in northern Michigan, I decided to put Evart on the itinerary and stop by the area where Nestle Waters North America is hoping to increase their taking of Michigan groundwater. Nestle would like to increase the… Read more »
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 »
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 »
Click here to view and download the full press release as a PDF FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Contact: Liz Kirkwood, Executive Director liz@flowforwater.org or 231-944-1568 FLOW Founder Pens Seminal Article on Public Trust in the Great Lakes “All Aboard” in Vermont Journal of Environmental Law TRAVERSE CITY, MI – FLOW Founder and veteran water attorney… Read more »
Up Front Friday: A conversation focused on local events in the Grand Traverse region. Hosted and produced by Amy Reynolds of Horizon Books in Traverse City, MI. Featuring FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood.
