About GEM

Despite Michigan’s having abundant fresh water supplies, approximately half the state’s residents depend on groundwater as their sole source of drinking water. Of the approximately 800 million gallons of groundwater withdrawn in Michigan each day, 40 percent is used for public water supplies, 24 percent for domestic uses in rural areas, 12 percent for irrigation, 22 percent is drawn by industry from its own wells, and 2 percent is used for livestock. Numerous industries, including food processing and other types of manufacturing, depend on groundwater. Communities that market their lakes, rivers, and park land as visitor attractions also depend on clean water.

Yet, given the importance of groundwater issues, it has only been in recent years that they have come to the forefront of environmental consciousness in Michigan. For example, in the 1980s when contamination of the Verona well field resulted in half of Battle Creek’s residents having to use bottled water, the need for better education on groundwater issues became clear. Further evidence of the need for groundwater education became apparent as the number of pollution problems increased statewide, while the public displayed a lack of understanding about how such problems could affect them.

The Groundwater Education in Michigan (GEM) Program was initiated by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) in 1988 to create ongoing public awareness of groundwater and drinking water issues and the need to protect the quality of these resources. The Foundation’s goal was to support action-oriented, community-based projects that strive to improve and protect groundwater quality and human health. Thus, GEM was designed to educate citizen and community leaders about the importance of preventing the degradation of groundwater resources and to emphasize action-oriented education and protection strategies that community leaders can follow.

From the onset of the program, the WKKF partnered with the Institute of Water Research (IWR) at Michigan State University to guide and coordinate individual GEM projects. The IWR facilitated the program and worked to enhance information sharing and cooperation among projects. The IWR also acted as a focal point for projects, keeping track of materials developed by participants and clarifying leadership roles among projects. To provide technical support, promote local capacity-building and partnerships, and initiate groundwater projects, a system of regional groundwater centers was developed; six state universities participated.

Regional Centers

Each Regional Center undertook projects that met its individual interests, needs, and expertise, but the centers had in common an interest in developing technical or analytical models that could be used to enhance the understanding of groundwater issues. For example, geographic information systems, decision support systems, and groundwater-flow models were developed at regional centers so that GEM projects and communities could visualize where groundwater resources are located in relation to other natural features and political boundaries.

As a technical resource, regional centers also support each other by sharing data necessary to develop groundwater-information models. In many cases, collaboration and partnerships among the centers and other organizations have evolved from the need to share data because organizations and communities have varying access to and understanding of groundwater information. The partnerships positioned the regional centers as technical and educational resources for local decision makers. As the centers developed, they became proficient in helping communities identify local needs and succeeded in integrating groundwater management and other natural resource concerns into local governance.

In addition to the Regional Centers, a number of local level groundwater education and protection projects were funded through GEM.

GEM Project Summaries

Local GEM projects have been the heart of the program. Although the way in which programs deliver or transfer their message to their audiences varies greatly, GEM programs have common elements and messages: They (1) are technical resource for local groups that want to promote groundwater education, (2) provide educational materials for schools or the general public, (3) coordinate or participate in education events (i.e., conferences, seminars, videos, public broadcasts), (4) network with other GEM projects, and (5) work with targeted community audiences.

Project Info

To build on the GEM experience and to broadly share the valuable educational materials and expertise, MSU- IWR in collaboration with the GEM Regional Centers has launched a multi-faceted dissemination strategy to heighten public awareness of groundwater protection initiatives across Michigan and to share the many products that have been created with new organizations.

This statewide dissemination strategy will target the media, general public, local government officials, and others. Project components include:

• Work with key stakeholders (especially state-level organizations) to educate their constituencies about groundwater protection and available resources
• Development of a groundwater/drinking water resource center on the World Wide Web (http://www.gem.msu.edu)
• Distribute information to the public and specific audiences about the methods available for implementing protection programs
• Initiate a media campaign that will disseminate widely - through newspapers, specialized publications, talk shows, radio programs, and public television - information about the importance of protecting groundwater and drinking water and the techniques for preventing pollution at the local level.

Public Sector Consultants (PSC) and Brogan & Partners (BP), a full service advertising, public relations, and issue management firm will coordinate the media campaign. They will produce a groundwater press kit that will contain a press release, copies of existing GEM materials, eight to ten issues papers on various groundwater topics, a list of groundwater experts, and maps and definitions for select audiences.

Institute of Water Research - MSU
Design by Alex Morese