04/28/2019 Bridge - Opinion | Six ways Gretchen Whitmer and lawmakers can protect Michigan water

Many Michiganders may not realize the importance of groundwater, which supplies drinking water for 45 percent of the population. Groundwater is also critical to industrial and agricultural uses, and supplies as much as 40 percent of the volume of the Great Lakes. Because groundwater is out of sight, it is frequently out of mind for the public and policymakers. That must change.

My introduction to groundwater was messy.

It was 36 years ago and I had just taken a job as environmental advisor to the governor of Michigan. I had never thought about groundwater, but suddenly I had to. There was an emergency. ... [link to full article]

Dave Dempsey is senior advisor for FLOW (For Love of Water), a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the common waters of the Great Lakes Basin. It is based in Traverse City.