Freshwater Future Weekly: August 26, 2022
This week: Getting to Know Lake Erie–We Are Lake Erie Day, August 31 + New York Community Adopts Moratorium on Water Extraction + National Guard Requests 162,000 Acre Expansion in Michigan + Freshwater Voices Newsletter – Latest Issue Now Available Online + Share Your Input to Guide Freshwater Future’s Strategic Planning Process
Getting to Know Lake Erie–We Are Lake Erie Day, August 31
Lake Erie, the smallest and most biologically diverse Great Lake, has been supporting the physical, economic and spiritual health of people for thousands of years. Over 11 million of us rely on the Lake Erie watershed for our drinking. Learn more about the environmental threats to Lake Erie, efforts to reduce nutrient pollution that causes toxic harmful algal blooms, and how you can help by participating in #WeAreLakeErieDay in this blog post!
New York Community Adopts Moratorium on Water Extraction
A moratorium on water extraction was adopted by the Sterling, NY town board in a close vote, 3-2 at their July meeting. The moratorium is for the purpose of developing a wellhead protection overlay zone amendment to the zoning ordinance. The moratorium is in response to a developer’s public announcement of plans to drill wells and construct a water bottling plant across the street from the Village of Fair Haven’s wells, which also supply water to neighboring areas. Congratulations to Sterling Water Stewards, a Freshwater Future grant recipient, for their hard work to ensure that the drinking water supply that comes from relatively shallow wells in the area is not harmed by mining, chemical contamination, or high-volume water withdrawals.
National Guard Requests 162,000 Acre Expansion in Michigan
The Michigan National Guard is requesting to lease an additional 162,000 acres of state recreation lands around the Camp Grayling training facility, more than doubling their current lease of 148,000 acres. The National Guard plans to conduct electronic warfare training in the expanded lease area. Past training activities at the Camp resulted in contamination of the drinking water source from toxic fire-fighting foams that contain PFAS. Freshwater Future opposes the expansion and the threats to headwaters of several cold-water rivers and fragile wetlands in the proposed expansion area in the 20-year lease. Please share your opinion and concerns about the project here.
Freshwater Voices Newsletter – Latest Issue Now Available Online
The most recent issue of our Freshwater Voices Newsletter is now available online. This issue features progress helping New York state residents with water bills, tips on urging your community to access federal funds for water system improvements, and innovative tools to track flooding. Click HERE to access a full pdf version of Voices. If you would like a print version of the newsletter mailed to you, just send a request to [email protected].
Share Your Input to Guide Freshwater Future’s Strategic Planning Process
Freshwater Future is working on a new Strategic Plan to guide our work for the coming 3 years. These plans ensure we align our short and long term goals strategically based on the needs of our members and partners. Please take a few minutes to provide your feedback to the process by answering some quick questions here.