Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, and state and national environmental officials met in Novi to discuss the past and future of drinking water protection and how Michigan will address threats to our water in the future.
Eric Oswald, director of the Michigan Department of Environment Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) Division of Drinking Water and Environmental Health, told attendees at the Great Lakes Drinking Water Conference that while drinking water regulations had previously been sporadic and driven by diseases such as cholera that spread through drinking water systems, the Safe Drinking Water Act marked a major step forward for nationwide drinking water regulation by establishing maximum contaminant levels and setting monitoring requirements.
Michiganders define themselves by the water they live in, said EGLE Director Phil Roos, noting that the Great Lakes store 21 percent of the world’s fresh surface water and residents enjoy access to abundant groundwater.
Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy Director Phil Roos speaks to attendees at the Great Lakes Drinking Water Conference on September 25, 2024. | Kyle Davidson
“We have thousands of miles of rivers in the state, 11,000 lakes, all of which are very fragile, very precious and we have to protect them. We’re here to talk about drinking water, but that translates to water resources being the reason we have abundant, clean drinking water in this state,” Roos said.
In the 50 years since the Safe Drinking Water Act was enacted, Congress and states have continued to raise standards to meet new challenges, but without federal requirements to test, monitor and maintain water quality, communities would face a much greater risk of contamination than they do today, Luce said.
In recent years, Michigan has led the nation in replacing lead pipes, but Roos noted the state got to that position because it overcame the Flint water crisis and the lead contamination in Benton Harbor.
“There’s a lot to be proud of in overcoming really great challenges to make sure that Benton Harbor, Flint, Detroit and our entire state have some of the cleanest drinking water in the country and maybe even the world,” Roos said.
In addition to replacing lead pipes, Michigan has also made great strides in rebuilding sewer systems, upgrading septic tanks and improving other water infrastructure, Luce said.
Luce said because water systems are 50 and in some cases 100 years old, it has been difficult to raise water rates to update the systems. But funding from the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as the fiscal year 2024 state budget, has allowed EGLE to invest in water infrastructure for the first time, Luce said.
“There’s no higher priority than drinking water, safe drinking water and improving our water infrastructure, and this is at the top of our budget list every year and will be again next year,” Roos said.
But the gap between available funding and ministry needs remains large, Ruth said.
“The state’s revolving fund has about $750 million available to allocate to water infrastructure projects, drinking water, water resources, wastewater treatment plants, storm water, etc., and there was a request for $3.5 billion,” Roos said.
The need remains at $3.5 billion, but the state has received more than $1 billion from the federal government to make up the shortfall, and Luce said EGLE will continue to do all it can to leverage federal funding at the state level.
“We’re all taxpayers and we can all think of reasons why this makes financial sense. Every $1 million invested in water infrastructure creates 15 jobs and every $1 creates $6 in economic benefit. That’s a pretty good return,” Roos said.
“Obviously most of our focus is public health, but it’s also the health of the economy. And it’s also about protecting our way of life. It’s part of our culture, it’s everything we depend on. And we couldn’t do this at the level we’re at without our federal partners,” Roos said.
Luce noted that alongside Michigan’s efforts to improve its water infrastructure, looming changes to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) lead and copper rules will require the state to accelerate its lead pipe removal efforts.
“Fortunately, in Michigan, the standards were high, but we’re going to see more places that are on the brink of violating those standards or may already be violating them, and we need to help those places make the investments they need to meet those standards,” Roos said.
As Michigan continues to face challenges including new pollutants and microplastics, EGLE is planning to raise standards in what it calls “Vision 2027.”
“We’ve set out Vision 2027, which is to make Michigan a lasting national leader in environmental protection by 2027, which is the end of this administration. The good news is we’re already reaching that goal in some areas,” Roos said.
The department worked with consultants to identify 15 to 20 indicators that look at air, land, water and climate impacts that are comparable across the state. EGLE strives to set benchmarks across all program areas and plans to aim for 75% improvement on these targets each year.
“We’re not going to do that for everything because sometimes we set the wrong goals. The key is to continually improve every year – look at where we are, reassess our goals and figure out where we can invest in the right areas where we can really make a difference,” Roos said.
Along with addressing concerns about PFAS, emerging contaminants, microplastics and combined sewer flooding, Roos and Oswald noted cybersecurity is another area for improvement.
Roos told the Advance that a lot of work is being done at the federal level, including an EPA directive requiring states to review and report on their cybersecurity plans.
While Luce said nothing major has happened in Michigan, officials who oversee water systems need to expect unknowns and regularly inspect the systems for potential threats.
“We must give our citizens a sense of security so that they can live their lives without worry.
“I think that’s generally true, but so far I’ve heard of some minor incidents happening around the country, but nothing major issues or inconveniences,” Ruth said.
When dealing with PFAS, officials must first look at its source to prevent it from entering the water system, Ruth said.
But the state has robust procedures for identifying and investigating sources and mitigating known pollutants discharged, and EGLE has an industrial pretreatment program that requires wastewater treatment plants to pretreat waste from potential polluters, Ruth said.
“It sounds simple, but in areas that have had historical contamination, we’re reducing PFAS by 98, 99 percent,” Roos said.
EPA Deputy Under Secretary for Water Resources May Wu speaks to attendees at the Great Lakes Drinking Water Conference on September 25, 2024. | Kyle Davidson
Speaking at the conference, EPA Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water Quality Mei Wu said Michigan is a leader in addressing PFAS.
But for lesser known things, like microplastics, more research and development is needed, as well as an inventory to assess the scope of the problem, Luce said. EGLE has received some funding to begin basic research and planning to address microplastics, but it still relies heavily on the EPA to fund the emerging problem and work on solutions.
