Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants to “keep working together for our water and for our future,” recently taking to X to celebrate her accomplishments on World Water Day.
“Today is World Water Day, which is a special day here in Michigan,” Whitmer said in a recent video posted to X. “We love our waters here in Michigan and rely on them to survive. They provide us drinking water, support our economy, and offer us countless opportunities for recreation,” she said.
“As governor, I’m committed to protecting our waters so everyone can enjoy them. That’s why we’ve made record investments in water infrastructure, in pipes and sewers, and in our state parks and public lands, to safeguard them for generations to come,” Whitmer continued. “Let’s keep working together for our water and for our future.”
On World Water Day, we're reminded of the preciousness of our most vital resource. Michiganders know the importance of water. Our lakes, great and small define us.
Let’s celebrate our waters and keep working to protect them for generations to come. pic.twitter.com/lgvzpwMhWw— Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@GovWhitmer) March 22, 2024
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Whitmer’s comments stand in stark contrast to actions, or inactions, from her administration on a variety of water issues since she took office in 2019.
In Flint, where the city’s water has been contaminated with lead since 2014, a federal judge this month found the city in contempt of court for failing to replace water lines as promised in a 2020 settlement, CBS News reports.
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A decade since the contamination was discovered and five years since Whitmer took office, Flint residents remain without a clean water system and without settlement funds from the crisis.
“This is still Flint water!” local David Lovett posted to Facebook earlier this month, along with a video of his brown water. “What they sending shut off notices for instead of checks.”
In Benton Harbor, a similar situation with lead in city water prompted locals to sue Whitmer and other state officials in 2021 for failing to protect residents from toxic exposure. Last year, state attorneys argued successfully to remove Whitmer from the federal lawsuit, though she remains a named defendant in other ongoing state lawsuits, according to the Detroit Free Press.
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Mark Chalos, attorney for Benton Harbor residents, said in a statement in October that “no government official should be permitted to deprive communities of safe drinking water, either by deception or deliberate indifference.”
“The Benton Harbor community’s claims against the state agencies and state officials are going forward in the state Court of Claims,” he said. “The state court lawsuits detail the failures of leadership, including at the top levels of state government.”
Still other water issues have sprung up in recent years centered on Enbridge’s Line 5 under the Straits of Mackinac, and at a planned Gotion electric vehicle battery plant near Big Rapids.
The latter involves highly controversial plans to draw 715,000 gallons of water a day from Michigan to support Gotion’s operations, The Midwesterner reported last April. Gotion, which has ties to the Chinese Communist Party, is slated to receive about $800 million in incentives from taxpayers through a development deal inked by the Whitmer administration.
Whitmer campaigned in 2018 on a promise to stop Nestle from “siphoning” up to 576,000 gallons of water per day from Michigan — or about 139,000 gallons a day less than her Gotion deal — though she has taken no action to fulfill her promise since, Michigan Capitol Confidential reports.
Whitmer’s comments about World Water Day also came at the same time residents in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids were under a boil water advisory over concerns about bacteria in the system. Those advisories have since been lifted.