Join us in our exciting and critical new venture, the launch of The Campaign for Fresh Water, our comprehensive and solutions-based response to the current water crises in Michigan.

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Our Mission

FLOW is a Great Lakes water law and policy 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the common waters of the Great Lakes Basin through public trust solutions founded in 2011 by legendary water attorney Jim Olson. The public trust – an ancient and durable legal doctrine – exists in all Great Lakes jurisdictions and provides its 40 million citizens a legal right to use these common waters for drinking, fishing, swimming, recreation, navigation and the like. It also holds state governments accountable for ensuring these waters and public uses are protected for current and future generations. The public trust demands that we all are responsible for protecting water as a common shared resource.  The Great Lakes belong to all of us and they are ours to defend.