LANSING – More intense, heavier rainfall has become prevalent in Michigan in recent years, which pushes out more trash, microorganisms, sewage and other nutrients into Michigan waterways. That adds stress to the state’s already aging drains and the Great Lakes.
Rainfall is not only heavier, it’s faster when it’s on the ground, making it difficult to control what flood water carries and where it ends up, said Pat Lindemann, the Ingham County drain commissioner. Some drainage pipes are 100 years old, he said. Many are inadequately sized for the storms that have now become common.
“Wetlands are one of our biggest allies,” Lindemann said. “But now with urbanization and development, we’ve seen a lot of those areas taken away and turned into shopping.”
Poor drainage and floods can increase algae blooms in the Great Lakes and threaten aquatic and human life, according to James Clift, Michigan Environmental Council’s public policy director.
The summer of 2015 saw the largest algae bloom in Lake Erie in 100 years and while it didn’t reach earlier toxicity levels of 2011, the bloom covered 300 square miles and threatened the safety of drinking water.
If the state doesn’t begin addressing how rain can impact lakes, algae blooms could be much more frequent, Clift said.
This story was published by the Small Business Association of Michigan. To learn more, click on SBAM.Org
