Michigan would seem the last place to worry about water shortages
and prompt occasional warnings about swimming in the lakes or eating too many of their fish.
Glaciers that scoured the landscape before melting to form the Great Lakes left a jumble of subsurface rock formations, some holding more water than others, said John Yellich, director of the Michigan Geological Survey. Where soils are rich with sand and gravel, rain oozes deep underground, replacing water sucked out for irrigation, industry or home uses.
As Buist battled balky greenhouse wells, local officials juggled reports of salty irrigation water from farmers and spotty supplies in residential developments. Studies found the clay-topped aquifer below had plummeted 40 feet since the 1990s, said Paul Sachs, county director of strategic impact. As his lawn sprinkler ran one summer day in 2019, “I heard this spitting and sputtering ... like when you go down to the bottom of a glass with a straw,” he said. “We were running out of water.”“People say, ‘Hey, I’m not watering that much,’ but add up thousands of homes and it’s a lot,” said Kelly Rice, president of the Ottawa parks commission.
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