great lakes water authority

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is providing $800,000 to expand an ongoing COVID-19 detection program in wastewater.

The expanded program, which has been running as a pilot since spring, will test untreated sewage in some Detroit zip codes, as well as certain targeted zip codes in suburban communities like Sterling Heights, Oak Park, and West Bloomfield.

A team of Michigan State University researchers hopes Detroit sewage will hold clues about the trajectory of COVID-19.

The group has been sampling raw sewage as it arrives at a Great Lakes Water Authority water treatment plant every week since mid-April.

Monday, the Flint city council may reconsider a contract to build a back-up drinking water source.

Saturday was the 6th anniversary of the Flint Water Crisis. On April 25th, 2014, Flint’s drinking water source was switched as part of an effort to save money. But improperly treated water from the Flint River damaged city pipes and released lead into Flint’s tap water.

Part of downtown Detroit is under a boil water advisory following a water main break.

The Great Lakes Water Authority and Detroit Water and Sewerage Department responded to a 42-inch break around 11 pm Saturday night.

Southeast Michigan’s largest water system is turning to new technology to detect faulty water mains before they fail.

A year ago, a massive water main break disrupted 11 communities in western Oakland County.

In order to avoid similar problems in the future, the Great Lakes Water Authority is launching a pilot program to use acoustic technology to inspect the interior of large water mains. The sensors will try to detect leaks, gas pockets and structural weakness.

There’s now a larger pot of money to help households struggling to pay water bills in Detroit and Flint. It comes from the Great Lakes Water Authority’s Water Residential Assistance Program, known as WRAP.

The GLWA board had $1.2 million dollars in WRAP funds dedicated to other communities left over from its last budget year. So it’s channeling that money into Detroit and Flint, where the need is greatest.

A Flint city councilman will learn Monday if he is going to spend the next year in jail.

Councilman Eric Mays entered a plea of ‘no contest’ to a charge of willful neglect of duty in August.

Mays was charged in connection with pawning his city issued lap top computer several times.

This isn’t the first legal issue for Mays. He served three weeks at the Genesee County jail last year for "impaired driving."

Last night, the Flint city council voted five to four to approve a 30-year contract with the Great Lakes Water Authority.

The contract to provide Flint with drinking water has been held up since April by city council members worried about rising water bills under the deal. But most of those councilmen lost their seats in this month’s election.

Flint is on the verge of moving ahead with a 30-year drinking water contract with the Great Lakes Water Authority, under an agreement hashed out in federal court Monday.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality says Flint needs to choose a long-term water supplier to move ahead with a lawsuit settlement reached earlier this year. The $97 million settlement lays out a series of measures to mitigate lasting effects of Flint’s water crisis, such as removing the city’s lead service lines.

Flint officials will try again tomorrow to decide whether to approve a new water contract.

But a federal judge may take that decision away from them.

The Flint city council met for three long days last week, examining the proposed 30-year contract with the Great Lakes Water Authority. They will gather again at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

The contract has been on the table since April. Flint city council members balked at signing the contract out of concern that it could result in higher water rates.  

But five of nine council members lost their seats this month’s election.

“I do solemnly swear,” intoned City Clerk Inez Brown, as she led the nine members of the Flint city council through their oath of office.

The new city council were sworn in today at noon. Five of the nine council members are new to the job.  Last week, Flint voters ousted a majority of incumbents from the panel.   

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver suggests voters wanted the new blood on the council to move beyond old arguments.

At noon today, the new Flint city council is sworn in. It could signal a change in the city’s long debate over where its tap water should come from.

Last week, Flint voters elected five new people to the city council. They replace five council members who have fought, in court and out, against signing a 30-year contract with the Great Lakes Water Authority.   Flint has been getting its tap water from the authority on a temporary contract since it turned off the tap to the Flint River.

Update 9:30 p.m.

A federal judge has denied the state’s request to give Flint’s mayor the power to sign a 30-year water contract before she faces a recall election next week.

The Flint city council has fought against the deal with the Great Lakes Water Authority. 

Mayor Karen Weaver supports the deal, but she faces a recall election next Tuesday. 

Judge David Lawson agreed to consider the state’s request, but not before the recall.   The judge scheduled a hearing on the state’s motion for November 13. 

Tuesday afternoon, a state oversight board is expected to vote on allowing the city of Flint to enter into another 30-day contract with the Great Lakes Water Authority.

The Receivership Transition Advisory Board meets at 2 p.m. in Lansing.   

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver hopes the board acts in the city’s financial and public health interests. Though Weaver admits she is tired of Flint’s future being decided by outside groups.

A federal judge has denied the Flint city council’s request for more time to decide on a long-term water source for the city.

The mandatory boil water advisory affecting more than 300,000 Oakland County residents won’t be lifted Friday as originally planned.

The Great Lakes Water Authority says it’s made “great progress” repairing the broken water transmission main that caused system pressure drop, prompting the boil water advisory to be issued early Tuesday.

A federal judge may rule soon on whether to give the Flint city council more time decide on a future drinking water source for the city.

Tuesday, attorneys for the state of Michigan and city of Flint filed responses to a motion from the Flint city council asking for a delay in an order that it decide on a water source.

Flint's mayor is rejecting the city council’s proposed solution to the city’s future drinking water needs.

Monday night, the Flint city council approved a two-year extension of its current temporary contract with the Great Lakes Water Authority.  

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver says she does “not believe a two-year extension is a viable solution.” 

The Flint city council is getting a little more time to consider where the city’s drinking water should come from.

A federal judge had ordered the city council to make a decision on a future water source by today.     But that deadline has slipped.

U.S. District Judge David Lawson is giving attorneys for the state and Flint city council until tomorrow to respond to a motion filed Sunday by the council seeking a delay.

Flint city council members are assessing their options now that a federal judge has told them the time has come to decide the city’s long-term tap water source. 

Flint has been getting its drinking water from the Great Lakes Water Authority since the fall of 2015.   Flint’s mayor and state government officials agreed to a 30-year contract to keep the water flowing. But Flint council members have balked.

Their main concern is about rising future costs.

A federal judge is tired of waiting for officials to choose the city of Flint’s long-term drinking water source.

Flint has been getting its drinking water from the Great Lakes Water Authority since the fall of 2015, when the city officially ended the ill-fated experiment of getting its tap water from the Flint River.

For months, a final decision on whether Flint would sign a 30-year contract with the Great Lakes Water Authority has been on hold. Flint’s mayor and state officials signed off on the deal last spring.   

Monday marks the second anniversary of Flint’s switch back to Detroit water.

October 16th, 2015 was the end of Flint’s experiment with getting its tap water from the Flint River.   

But the ramifications of improperly treated river water continue.

Flint City Council members are accusing state officials of trying to bully them into signing a 30-year contract for the city’s tap water source.

This week, both sides were in federal court, working with a mediator to reach a deal for the city to continue getting its drinking water from the Great Lakes Water Authority.  

The authority has been providing Flint’s tap water for nearly two years, in the wake of the city’s lead tainted tap water scandal.

The Flint city council voted tonight to extend the city’s tap water contract for another month. 

The council continues to balk at agreeing to a 30-year contract with the Great Lakes Water Authority.

Council President Kerry Nelson says council members remain concerned about future rate hikes.

“Our one goal is to make sure we’re getting the best, affordable, drinkable water there is,” says Nelson.

In June, the state filed a complaint with a federal judge claiming the city is endangering Flint residents by not having a long-term water contract in place.

With pressure on them building, Flint city council members will sit down with their attorney Tuesday afternoon to discuss their options in their fight against tying the city to a 30-year water deal.

The state and Flint’s mayor support the deal with the Great Lakes Water Authority, under which the city would continue to get its drinking water from southeast Michigan.

Flint city council members say the “fix was in” for months before a deal to keep the city on tap water from Detroit was made public.

Councilwoman Kate Fields says she’s obtained an email from a consultant showing the deal with the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) was set in February, months before it was announced to the public in April. 

Flint city council members say they need more information before they can approve the agreement with the Great Lakes Water Authority. The 30-year deal is part of a broader agreement addressing Flint's water crisis.  The council did approve a three month extension of the current contract instead.