Every year, Lake Erie’s algae bloom threatens the health and drinking water of more than 11 million people. Watch this short video featuring Anne Schechinger and Ethan Bahe from Environmental Working Group who created a model that’s being used by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Environment, Great Lakes,...
Having the right tools in the toolbox is necessary to address tough challenges like the toxic algal bloom in Lake Erie. Partnering with the Joyce Foundation, the Erb Family Foundation made a grant to Environmental Working Group to use geospatial tools to identify where phosphorus might be most concentrated in Michigan. Throughout the process, Environmental...
We like to say that everyone lives on waterfront property. This is because everything people do on their land – no matter if it’s located on a river or lake or not – ends up in one of the Great Lakes. To illustrate this, we worked with The Nature Conservancy to create a new map of the Great Lakes.
Toxic green slime is growing in lakes all over the country, including Lake Erie. It prevents us from recreational activities like swimming and fishing, and in some cases, contaminates our drinking water supply. Polluted runoff from agricultural fields and urban areas fuels the growth of these harmful algal blooms. Our foundation has supported over $14 million...
Farmers and gardeners across Detroit implemented innovative rainwater harvesting systems, learning solutions that would conserve both water and money. The integration of water stewardship into urban agriculture is one example of the many ways that grassroots communities are informing the sustainability movement. Video credit: Cass Corridor Films.
After participating in a series of peer-led workshops, 68 farmers across Southeast Michigan, representing 15% of the farmland in the Western Lake Erie watershed, committed to practices that would prevent pollutants such as phosphorous and nitrogen from running off into the lake. Each farmer learned how to improve crop yields and soil health while reducing...
This image was taken on a recent boat tour where the Foundation joined farmers and public officials to see Lake Erie’s infamous algae bloom up close and better understand what causes it. Toxic algae continues to harm Lake Erie, impeding fishing, diminishing property values, and threatening Lake Erie’s multi-billion dollar tourism industries. Water treatment plants are...