LANSING
Residents of major Great Lakes cities, including Lansing, are using less water, a trend that has economic, societal and environmental implications, a new study found.
And the relationship between per capita water use and socioeconomic factors such as income and race may prove significant as policymakers address inequities in the distribution and affordability of water, according to the first such study focused on the Great Lakes region “Ground and surface water resources across the Great Lakes Basin serve as a drinking water supply for nearly 40 million citizens in Canada, First Nations and the United States,” it said. “Understanding the drivers behind water use trends is critical as the Great Lakes looks towards a future of potentially increasingly variable water supplies, emerging and legacy contamination, and the possibility of a growing population driven in part by climate migration.”