The Heart of the Lakes: Freshwater in the Past, Present and Future of Southeast Michigan

by Dave Dempsey

Overview

The water corridor that defines southeast Michigan sits at the heart of the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem, the Great Lakes. Over forty-three trillion gallons of water a year flow through the Detroit River, providing a natural conduit for everything from fish migration to the movement of cargo-bearing one thousand-foot freighters, and a defining sense of place.  But in both government policies and individual practices, the freshwater at the heart of the lakes was long neglected and sometimes abused. Today southeast Michigan enjoys an opportunity to learn from that history and put freshwater at the center of a prosperous and sustainable future. Joining this journey downriver in place and time, from Port Huron to Monroe, from the 1600s to the present, provides insight and hope for the region’s water-based renaissance.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781948314046
Publisher:	Michigan State University Press
Publication date:	06/01/2019
Series:	Greenstone Books
Edition description:	1
Pages:	106
Sales rank:	1,122,649
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Dave Dempsey is the author and coauthor of eight nonfiction books and was named Michigan Author of the Year by the Michigan Library Association and the Michigan Center for the Book in 2009.

Table of Contents

Foreword John Dingell xi

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xvii

Chapter 1 Where the Water Came From 1

Chapter 2 The Headwaters 5

Chapter 3 Metropolis Bound 27

Chapter 4 The Heart of the Lakes 43

Chapter 5 Downriver 75

Epilogue. A Water Legacy 105

Notes 119

Bibliography 127