hen school children study a restaurant table mat that challenges them with a crossword puzzle about protecting our wetlands and rivers, that's tapping into the future for safe drinking water.
When a homeowner takes motor oil to a recycling station instead of dumping it into a vacant lot, that's tapping into the future for safe drinking water.
When businesses big and small pay attention to how they dispose of hazardous wastes, that's tapping into the future for safe drinking water.
When farmers use conservation tillage practices and apply fertilizer and pesticides at appropriate rates, that's tapping into the future for safe drinking water.
When elected officials enact ordinances to seal off abandoned water wells, and use zoning ordinances to prevent future contamination of natural resources, that's tapping into the future for safe drinking water.
Do you want safe, clean drinking water for you, and your children, and your children's children? Then you also want -- and need -- safe, clean groundwater.
Groundwater is the water that permeates all the sand, gravel, clay and bedrock beneath the earth's crust. In Michigan, groundwater sustains public and private wells providing drinking water for half of the state's residents, from rural areas to cities such as Lansing, Battle Creek, and Kalamazoo, to suburbs just a half-hour drive from Detroit.
One of our best tools in safeguarding drinking water for future generations lies with education. Our children, through countless Earth Days at schools, brought home a zeal and simple understanding of the need to recycle paper, plastic and bottles.
We need that same enthusiasm to protect our water resources, and safeguard our groundwater. The Groundwater Education in Michigan (GEM) program shares the goals of Michigan residents -- to insure safe, clean drinking water.
Many Michigan citizens and environmental groups have been concerned about protecting groundwater since the early 1970s, when toxic chemicals were found in dump sites in Oakland County. Since the 1980s, when contamination of groundwater wells in Battle Creek resulted in half the area's residents using bottled water, concern for groundwater resources has emerged onto the public agenda.
Working through six of Michigan's public universities -- Michigan State University, The University of Michigan - Flint, Grand Valley State University, Western Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University and Michigan Technological University -- the GEM program helps support community-based projects that enable local citizens to take actions.
