Flow Water Advocates announces its next executive director; Liz Kirkwood to assume new leadership role. October 23, 2026 TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Flow Water Advocates has named Katrina Shankland as its new executive director, following a robust nationwide search. Shankland, who begins on Oct. 26, is Flow’s second executive director. Liz Kirkwood, who passes the… Read more »
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 29, 2026 TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — On September 25, 2026, the Michigan Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals’ refusal to hear Flow Water Advocates’ appeal challenging the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and its permitting practices for industrial agriculture pollution. Flow appealed to the High Court… Read more »
Filing comes after Michigan Supreme Court decision overturned another Line 5 permit approval September 10, 2026 Lansing, MI. – Today, four environmental organizations jointly filed a petition with Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) requesting a contested case hearing on a Water Resource Permit the agency approved for Enbridge’s Line 5 Tunnel… Read more »
Our webinar has now concluded. Watch the video recording. TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — In spite of being located in the heart of the Great Lakes, Michigan’s water infrastructure is aging and persistently underfunded, and too many Michiganders live without clean, safe drinking water. On September 21, Flow Water Advocates will present a special live… Read more »
September 9, 2026 Traverse City, Mich. — Today, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and her administration issued a consequential new statement on Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 pipeline tunnel through the Straits of Mackinac, telling the Canadian company that it’s time to pull back from its tunnel plan that will put the Great Lakes at risk for… Read more »
RSVP: Celebration of Skip’s life, to be held Saturday, October 24 in Northport. By Liz Kirkwood, Executive Director, Flow Water Advocates Michigan has lost one of its most valiant defenders and stewards. Stanley “Skip” Pruss, husband, father, grandfather, friend, environmental attorney, clean energy expert and champion, and a cherished member of the team here at… Read more »
Fast-tracked under a January 2025 presidential executive order declaring a trumped-up “energy emergency,” the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced its decision to approve the Canadian company Enbridge’s pipeline tunnel through Lake Michigan at the Straits of Mackinac. The proposed tunnel would house the Enbridge Line 5 pipelines, which terminate in Sarnia, Ontario, and… Read more »
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 31, 2026 Michigan Supreme Court upholds the public’s rights to the Great Lakes, orders new review of Line 5 tunnel. Traverse City, Mich., July 31, 2026 — The Michigan Supreme Court ruled that Michigan regulators failed to properly weigh the Great Lakes’ public trust protections and environmental impacts before approving Enbridge… Read more »
Water is the foundation of human health, economic vitality, and democratic society. Water is not a commodity, it is a human right. And the systems we’ve built to deliver that right are extraordinary — and under strain. Adapted from a keynote speech delivered by Flow executive director Liz Kirkwood to the 2026 Great Lakes Drinking… Read more »
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 15, 2026 TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — In a pair of key permit decisions announced today by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) regarding Enbridge’s proposed pipeline tunnel through the Straits of Mackinac, the state has failed to carry out its duties under the Michigan Wetlands Protection Act… Read more »
