Flow Water Advocates

10/13/2026

🎉 Good news! Last week, the U.S. Senate passed legislation to reauthorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The bill was sponsored by Michigan Senator Gary Peters and Ohio Senator Jon Husted.

The GLRI has provided over $4 billion to fund important projects throughout the Great Lakes, including efforts to remediate and prevent contamination, and stop invasive species like Asian carp.

The bill now heads back to the U.S. House, which passed a different version back in March. Read more:

The Senate legislation reauthorizing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative now heads to the House, which passed its own version in March. The bill would target billions of dollars toward projects to protect the Great Lakes.

10/07/2026

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14:
Oryana Community Co-op invites you to join us for a Community Film Night on Wednesday, October 14 at 6:00pm, at beautiful Milliken Auditorium. Food and Country offers an eye-opening look at the U.S. food system. Explore the very human toll of industrialized agriculture and food manufacturing, a monolithic enterprise that is equal parts entrenched and precarious.

Flow Water Advocates is proud to be a non-profit partner for this event, which also includes Groundwork Center , Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology , SEEDS , the , and the Grand Traverse Conservation District 's Great Lakes Incubator Farm.

Reserve your tickets: https://oryana.coop/event/event-film-screening-of-food-and-country/

10/07/2026

We've been nominated for Oryana Community Co-op 's Groceries for Good program!

Every day, Oryana shoppers have the option to round up their change to the nearest dollar to support the non-profit of the month. Oryana customers have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for terrific local non-profit organizations.

Flow Water Advocates has the opportunity to be one of the featured nonprofits in 2027! Vote here:

https://oryana.coop/community/groceries-for-good/ #:~:text=FOR%20GOOD%20Recipients-,Vote%20for%20the%202027,-GROCERIES%20FOR%20GOOD

10/06/2026

We're challenging EGLE and its permitting practices for factory farm pollution.

On September 25, the Michigan Supreme Court *reversed* the Court of Appeals’ refusal to hear our appeal in FLOW v. EGLE, and ordered the lower court to apply its recent Line 5 tunnel permit ruling in FLOW v. MPSC and the related Tribal coalition case.

With its new order in the FLOW v. EGLE factory farm permit case, the High Court is signaling to the lower courts that Michigan agencies must apply the *higher environmental standards* set by MEPA and public trust common law to all permitting decisions that implicate public waters and bottomlands.

10/02/2026

Here's what Flow and our Oil & Water Don't Mix partners are asking Governor Whitmer to do:

09/26/2026

We are beyond grateful for this beautiful new collection from Northern Nail Polish! Order today, and support our work to defend then Great Lakes, and look great doing it!

09/22/2026

Four environmental groups (including Flow) have jointly filed a petition with EGLE, requesting a contested case hearing on a key permit the agency approved for the proposed Line 5 tunnel.

The request comes after Michigan Supreme Court decision overturned another Line 5 permit approval, in its July 31 decision in FLOW v. MPSC and the related Tribal coalition case.

09/19/2026

Did you know that the average household pays over 6000 times more per gallon of water than water bottling companies do? Meanwhile, we have big, expensive challenges facing our aging rural and municipal water systems. We're working with Senator Sam Singh on a solution: the Michigan Water Trust Fund Act.

Learn more at our webinar on Monday, September 21 at 12:00pm EDT.

09/19/2026

It's Septic Smart Week, and here in Michigan, we've been working on legislation that would create statewide standards for septic systems and protect our water from human and household wastes. Michigan is the only state in the U.S. that *doesn't* have a state septic code.

Back in March, we hosted an webinar about the issue, with Senator Sam Singh, Megan Tinsley (Michigan Environmental Council ), Dan Thorell (Benzie-Leelanau Health Dept.), and Anthony Kendall (Michigan State University). The video is a great way to learn about the issue, the proposed legislation, and how homeowners can help.

Michigan’s water and public health are threatened by an estimated 3...