The Muskegon Chronicle has an excellent feature on a new report to the state Legislature by the Groundwater Conservation Advisory Council finds that while current groundwater pumping in Michigan does not pose an ecological crisis, future problems could arise unless more is done to protect it. Michigan industries, municipalities, farms and other businesses pumped about 730 million gallons of groundwater daily in 2000 (266 billion gallons annually). That amount represented about 2.6% of an estimated 27 billion gallons of water that flows each day into underground aquifers.

The report said the state needs to invest in groundwater research to increase scientific and public understanding, improve government management of the resource and, hopefully, prevent conflicts among competing water users. It also recommended the following definition of sustainable groundwater usage:
Sustainable use of Michigan's groundwater resources means (1) meeting the needs of the present while not compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs and (2) recognizing that sustainable use encompasses environmental, economic, and social systems and their contribution to meeting human needs.

Read the Croundwater Council's Final report to the Legislature (1.6 MB PDF document)
More Groundwater Conservation Advisory Council information from MDEQ

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