Designing Water’s Future:
How northern Michigan and the world can respond to global water challenges
An attentive audience listens to a presentation by award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and photojournalist Carl Ganter. Photo by Rick Kane
What does it take to design a better future for fresh water in the face of global warming, pollution, and over-use? And what does it mean for communities like Elk Rapids?
That was the question that drove a provocative session hosted by Green Elk Rapids at HERTH on Saturday, April 19, with J. Carl Ganter, managing director of Traverse City-based Circle of Blue, a nonprofit that reports on water crises and solutions worldwide.
“This is our moment to design water’s future,” Ganter said. “Though we face profound challenges — from India and the American West to here in the Great Lakes — this is a moment when we must urgently bring together the best and brightest of all ages.”
Ganter said a systematic approach can “create a compass and map” for everyone because “everyone has had a water epiphany, the moment when they see themselves in the picture.”
The images can be daunting. Ganter, a photojournalist and journalist who has completed international assignments for Time, National Geographic and Rolling Stone, shared stories and pictures from the front lines of water crises. He showcased families in the desert of northwest India who have to cross the hot sand daily to fetch water for drinking and cooking, families in rural Nebraska whose children face elevated cancer risks due to polluted water from farm chemicals, and the pervasiveness of “forever chemicals” like PFAS in Michigan.
He opened his presentation with the imperative moment to steward and protect water supplies globally, from water underground to creeks, streams and lakes. The costs of complacency are far-reaching — water scarcity, energy brown outs, and crop failures, all of which increasingly drive conflicts and crisis, are threatening economic and geo-political stability around the globe. It’s time to rethink business as usual, he said. “One of our greatest threats is status quo.”
The good news is that many of the solutions to this global crisis already exist. “When we can understand what is holding us back and how to better focus our efforts, we can coordinate the technologies, finance, policies, and awareness that are necessary to change this dangerous course,” he said, while noting there is “no silver bullet” of technology like desalination, which uses copious amounts of energy to turn seawater into fresh water.
Circle of Blue is launching an ambitious initiative, Designing Water’s Future, which Ganter calls “a new operating system for fresh water.” It aligns critical data with trusted journalism and storytelling along with rapid convening around solutions. Ganter has facilitated work sessions in India, China, Mongolia and Switzerland and is a frequent speaker at World Economic Forum events. He received the Rockefeller Foundation Centennial Innovation Award for proving this model of impact.
The presentation itself was a practical example for the audience, which included village trustees, commission members, and organization leaders from FLOW, Tip of the Mitt Watershed Center, and others. Local resident Gera Witte said Ganter’s gift for storytelling was a powerful tool in delivering his own message, and the process of engagement and problem solving can be applicable to so many situations.
“If Michigan becomes a climate refuge, how prepared are we, anyway?” asked one participant.
Committee member Michele Spillane summed it up: “What I learned today from J. Carl Ganter is…situational awareness, storytelling, data gathering, and the convening of like-minded people, both old and young, is imperative for collaboration, to ensure our water supply will remain abundant, clean, and accessible.”
Elk Rapids Village President Tom Stephenson said, “Thank you Green ER. I thought Carl Ganter’s presentation was ‘spot on’, and I hope more residents in the Elk Rapids region get a chance to hear it. The concern for our water quality and how it relates to quality of life for our residents and businesses is of concern for not only our Village Council, but others in our region. As our water related infrastructure ‘ages out’, the cost of replacing or expanding this infrastructure is increasing at an alarming rate. Resolving these issues will require a high level of collaboration and planning to maintain our great quality of life now and for generations to come.”
“We know what works, we know how to enable solutions,” Ganter said during his presentation. “Water has defined whether civilizations thrive or fail. It’s time to get to work. Now it is our choice… because we face a profound moment in history that will truly define our water future.” – Submitted by the Green Elk Rapids Committee
That was the question that drove a provocative session hosted by Green Elk Rapids at HERTH on Saturday, April 19, with J. Carl Ganter, managing director of Traverse City-based Circle of Blue, a nonprofit that reports on water crises and solutions worldwide.
“This is our moment to design water’s future,” Ganter said. “Though we face profound challenges — from India and the American West to here in the Great Lakes — this is a moment when we must urgently bring together the best and brightest of all ages.”
Ganter said a systematic approach can “create a compass and map” for everyone because “everyone has had a water epiphany, the moment when they see themselves in the picture.”
The images can be daunting. Ganter, a photojournalist and journalist who has completed international assignments for Time, National Geographic and Rolling Stone, shared stories and pictures from the front lines of water crises. He showcased families in the desert of northwest India who have to cross the hot sand daily to fetch water for drinking and cooking, families in rural Nebraska whose children face elevated cancer risks due to polluted water from farm chemicals, and the pervasiveness of “forever chemicals” like PFAS in Michigan.
He opened his presentation with the imperative moment to steward and protect water supplies globally, from water underground to creeks, streams and lakes. The costs of complacency are far-reaching — water scarcity, energy brown outs, and crop failures, all of which increasingly drive conflicts and crisis, are threatening economic and geo-political stability around the globe. It’s time to rethink business as usual, he said. “One of our greatest threats is status quo.”
The good news is that many of the solutions to this global crisis already exist. “When we can understand what is holding us back and how to better focus our efforts, we can coordinate the technologies, finance, policies, and awareness that are necessary to change this dangerous course,” he said, while noting there is “no silver bullet” of technology like desalination, which uses copious amounts of energy to turn seawater into fresh water.
Circle of Blue is launching an ambitious initiative, Designing Water’s Future, which Ganter calls “a new operating system for fresh water.” It aligns critical data with trusted journalism and storytelling along with rapid convening around solutions. Ganter has facilitated work sessions in India, China, Mongolia and Switzerland and is a frequent speaker at World Economic Forum events. He received the Rockefeller Foundation Centennial Innovation Award for proving this model of impact.
The presentation itself was a practical example for the audience, which included village trustees, commission members, and organization leaders from FLOW, Tip of the Mitt Watershed Center, and others. Local resident Gera Witte said Ganter’s gift for storytelling was a powerful tool in delivering his own message, and the process of engagement and problem solving can be applicable to so many situations.
“If Michigan becomes a climate refuge, how prepared are we, anyway?” asked one participant.
Committee member Michele Spillane summed it up: “What I learned today from J. Carl Ganter is…situational awareness, storytelling, data gathering, and the convening of like-minded people, both old and young, is imperative for collaboration, to ensure our water supply will remain abundant, clean, and accessible.”
Elk Rapids Village President Tom Stephenson said, “Thank you Green ER. I thought Carl Ganter’s presentation was ‘spot on’, and I hope more residents in the Elk Rapids region get a chance to hear it. The concern for our water quality and how it relates to quality of life for our residents and businesses is of concern for not only our Village Council, but others in our region. As our water related infrastructure ‘ages out’, the cost of replacing or expanding this infrastructure is increasing at an alarming rate. Resolving these issues will require a high level of collaboration and planning to maintain our great quality of life now and for generations to come.”
“We know what works, we know how to enable solutions,” Ganter said during his presentation. “Water has defined whether civilizations thrive or fail. It’s time to get to work. Now it is our choice… because we face a profound moment in history that will truly define our water future.” – Submitted by the Green Elk Rapids Committee
| ern-2025_0424_a01.pdf |