
The Great Lakes News Collaborative
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
The Great Lakes News Collaborative
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
Great Lakes News Collaborative Wins US Water Prize
Circle of Blue, Bridge Michigan, Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television, and Michigan Radio recognized for journalistic achievement
Circle of Blue, as part of the Great Lakes News Collaborative, won the US Water Alliance’s annual US Water Prize. The prize honors groups, municipalities and media outlets that innovate or examine issues related to the natural resource.
The award is for “Outstanding One Water Communication” for the “Water’s True Cost” series examining the origins of Michigan’s water infrastructure crisis.
The Great Lakes News Collaborative consists of Circle of Blue, Bridge Michigan, Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television, and Michigan Radio, and is funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
The Collaborative works together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water. The independent journalism is funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
Previous winners in the category include the Arizona Republic, The New York Times, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and New Orleans Times-Picayune.
The US Water Alliance said the Great Lakes News Collaborative provided “a slate of excellent and comprehensive coverage of water issues in the Great Lakes.” And “these journalists are effectively driving the public conversation around water, the environment, and affordability.”
The award comes as water challenges – across the nation and around the world – are growing and are increasingly exacerbated by climate change. Water is often one of the first places climate impacts are felt by the public, particularly for low-income and communities of color. The U.S. Water Alliance estimates that 2,000,000 individuals across all 50 states experience a lack of access to clean drinking water and sanitation.
“We face converging crises at the intersection of water, food, energy and climate change that are causing billions of dollars of disruptions, testing human and ecological resilience, and requiring us to be much more nimble and responsive,” said J. Carl Ganter, managing director and co-founder of Circle of Blue. “Circle of Blue and our partners are delivering the trusted reporting that communities and their leaders need to understand complex issues and inform decisions and that will affect all of us for decades.”
The collaborative has written extensively about algae blooms, municipal water costs, septic systems, rural water services, bottled water extractions, the health of the Great Lakes, Enbridge Energy’s Line 5, lead pipes and more.
The 2022 US Water Prize winners were selected from a pool of more than 160 nominations and applications, and the awards ceremony took place Tuesday, September 13 in Milwaukee.

Throughout the Great Lakes region and across the U.S., water systems are aging. In some communities, this means water bills that residents can’t afford or water that’s unsafe to drink. It means that vulnerable systems are even more at risk in a changing climate. From shrinking cities and small towns to the comparatively thriving suburbs, the true cost of water has been deferred for decades.
As the nation prepares to pour hundreds of billions of federal dollars into rescuing water systems, the Great Lakes News Collaborative investigates the true cost of water in Michigan.
After Decades of Neglect, Bill Coming Due for Michigan’s Water Infrastructure


Many Rural Towns Have Neglected Drinking Water Systems for Decades

Water Woes Loom for Michigan Suburbs, Towns After Decades of Disinvestment

Border Wall Concerns in Lower Rio Grande Valley Diminished By Virus and Growth

Michigan’s Lack of Septic System Regulations is Causing Problems for Some of its Most Pristine Lakes

Short-Changing Michigan Local Governments Has Resulted in Deteriorating Water Systems and Other Services

Short-Changing Michigan Local Governments Has Resulted in Deteriorating Water Systems and Other Services

High Cost of Water Hits Home

Some Michigan Water Systems Are Overbuilt, Underfunded. Are Mergers The Answer?

Michigan’s ‘Very Big Opportunity’ in Infrastructure Windfall

Five Fixes for Michigan’s Drinking Water Woes
GLNC Events
Lunch Break Discussion
Bridge Michigan and Circle of Blue hosted a Lunch Break discussion with water experts about the challenges and opportunities facing Michigan’s water systems.
Issues & Ale
From Michigan Radio, Environment Report host Lester Graham and the reporters of the Great Lakes News Collaborative discuss the true cost of water in Michigan.
“Water’s True Cost” TV Program
Great Lakes Now sums up the project’s findings in their monthly, magazine-style television program.
Subscribe to Fresh: A Great Lakes Policy Briefing
A biweekly breakdown of Great Lakes region news
This Week’s Watersheds:
- A new water affordability plan takes effect in Detroit.
- A Michigan Air Force base opts to use state standards instead of stricter federal drinking water guidelines when cleaning up PFAS.
- Several Great Lakes states receive federal dollars to clean up abandoned oil and gas wells.
- Officials call for federal intervention to investigate last month’s spill of a cancer-causing chemical into Michigan’s Huron River.
For this and more of the biggest international, state, and local policy news stories facing the Great Lakes region, read Fresh.
Ready or Not
The Great Lakes region is frequently touted as one of the most climate-resilient places in the U.S., in no small part because of its enviable water resources. But climate change also threatens water quality, availability, and aging water infrastructure by exposing existing vulnerabilities and creating new ones. In this series, members of the Great Lakes News Collaborative explored what it may take to prepare the Great Lakes region for the future climatologists say we can expect.
Water Could Make The Great Lakes Region a Climate Refuge. Are We Prepared?

Water Could Make Michigan a Climate Refuge. Are We Prepared?

Two Generations and $70 Million Later, Muskegon Lake Is Restored

EPA Warns of Health Problems When PFAS Levels in Drinking Water Are Inconceivably Tiny

Michigan’s 20th Century Water Systems Too Big For Its Shrinking City Populations

Many Rural Towns Have Neglected Drinking Water Systems for Decades

After Decades of Neglect, Bill Coming Due for Michigan’s Water Infrastructure

Inflation Weighs On U.S. Water Utilities


Line 5’s Impact on Climate Change Being Reviewed as Part of Tunnel Decision

The Next Source of Trouble for Great Lakes Fish Populations: Tires


Reduce Flooding From Backed up Sewers? There’s an App for That

Climate Change Grips Trout Streams Across the Nation:

In Benton Harbor, Residents’ Complaints of Lead-Tainted Water Carry Echoes

As Drought Grips American West, Irrigation Becomes Selling Point for Michigan

Some Chicagoans Wary of Lead Pipe Replacement
Additional Coverage from the Collaborative

Two Generations and $70 Million Later, Muskegon Lake Is Restored




Line 5’s Impact on Climate Change Being Reviewed as Part of Tunnel Decision
Water Infrastructure, Access, Affordability, and Drinking Water

Michigan’s 20th Century Water Systems Too Big For Its Shrinking City Populations

Many Rural Towns Have Neglected Drinking Water Systems for Decades


In Benton Harbor, Residents’ Complaints of Lead-Tainted Water Carry Echoes

Michigan Tribes to Biden: Enbridge Line 5 Threatens Our Treaty Rights

Some Chicagoans Wary of Lead Pipe Replacement

Dealing With The Soup of Chemicals That Can Get Into Your Drinking Water



Michigan’s Rural Water Systems Confront Generations of Inadequate Investment

HotSpots H2O: Canadian Government Misses Target to End Water Insecurity for First Nations Communities

Michigan Dams Need ‘Immediate Attention’ to Prevent Next Failure

High Demand for New Michigan Water Infrastructure Grants
Water Law and Policy

Two Generations and $70 Million Later, Muskegon Lake Is Restored

As Drought Grips American West, Irrigation Becomes Selling Point for Michigan

Treaty Rights Acknowledged For First Time in Oil Pipeline’s Controversial History

As Great Lakes Pummel Michigan, Beach Towns Rush to Set Development Rules

2020 Election: Water a Factor in Senate Race in Michigan

Michigan Allocates $20 Million to Relieve Customer Water Debts
Groundwater, Septic, and PFAS

The Next Source of Trouble for Great Lakes Fish Populations: Tires

PFAS in the House: Are Toxic “Forever Chemicals” a Steady Drip in This Reporter’s Home?

Rights vs. Regulations: When it Comes to Septic Codes, Property Rights Remain a Big Barrier

HotSpots H2O: Minnesota Rolls Out Plan for PFAS Contamination

Groundwater: The Sixth Great Lake
The Great Lakes and Climate Change

Climate Change Grips Trout Streams Across the Nation:

Detroit Flooding Previews Risks from a Warming Climate


Michigan Is On Thin Ice. Get Used To It, Climate Experts Say

Too Few Farmers are Curbing Pollution in Lake Erie. Should They be Forced?

As Great Lakes Pummel Michigan, Beach Towns Rush to Set Development Rules

HotSpots H2O: U.S. Great Lakes, Near Record Highs, Pummel Coastal Infrastructure
Solutions to Issues Facing The Great Lakes

Reduce Flooding From Backed up Sewers? There’s an App for That

Some Cities Are Turning to Natural Infrastructure to Deal With Extreme Rain Events

Wetlands Can Help Prevent Property Damage and Save Lives During Floods

Trash Fish: Marine Debris Becomes Sculptures at Great Lakes Aquariums and Museums
Remembering Michigan’s PBB Crisis
Contamination of the food-supply chain in Michigan in the 1970s was one of the worst mass poisonings in U.S. history. The events still resonate today.

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