Emergency Management in Michigan: Race, Class and the Limits of Liberal Democracy

Abstract

What is it about Michigan and water? Michigan, the Great Lakes state, a state with 3288 miles of coastline, a state within which there are almost 63,000 lakes of all sizes, with 98 lakes over 1000 acres and 10 lakes over 10,000 acres (for reference, that is over 15 sq. mi. or 40 sq. km), a state that is bordered on three sides by Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan and Huron) and very close to a fourth (Erie), a state arguably with an abundant source of free water, perhaps the most of any state and perhaps many countries. And yet, its residents suffer over access to water, over the availability of clean drinking water on demand.Access to water may well be the most important challenge facing the globe, to the clean and safe water required to sustain life. We are made up of water (estimates range from 50 to 75% of our bodies, depending on age, gender, weight, height and fitness level), and access to safe water is critical. We use it to drink, cook, bathe, and a host of other activities we often take for granted. And yet, due to a range of environmental problems and the spread of global poverty, we face serious challenges. 'In a world of unprecedented wealth, almost 2 million children die each year for want of a glass of clean water and adequate sanitation' (Watkins, 2006: abstract).'As human populations continue to grow, regional conflicts over water, ecological degradation, and human illness and death are becoming more frequent and serious' (Gleick, 1998: 571). Given

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