US Water Alliance honors Bridge Michigan, Great Lakes News Collaborative
Bridge Michigan, as part of the Great Lakes News Collaborative, won the US Water Alliance’s annual US Water Prize this week. The prize honors groups, municipalities and media outlets that innovate or examine issues related to the natural resource.
The award is for “Outstanding One Water Communication” for the “Water’s True Cost” series examining the origins of the state’s water infrastructure crisis.
The Great Lakes News Collaboration consists of Bridge, Michigan Radio, Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television and the Circle of Blue and is funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
Bridge environmental reporter Kelly House contributed two articles to the series, “Some MI water systems are overbuilt, underfunded. Are mergers the answer?” and “Water woes loom for Michigan suburbs, towns after decades of disinvestment.”
Previous winners in the category include the Arizona Republic, The New York Times, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and New Orleans Times-Picayune.
The US Water Alliance said the Great Lakes News Collaborative provided “a slate of excellent and comprehensive coverage of water issues in the Great Lakes.” And “these journalists are effectively driving the public conversation around water, the environment, and affordability.”
The collaborative has written extensively about algae blooms, municipal water costs, septic systems, rural water services, bottled water extractions, the health of the Great Lakes, Enbridge Energy’s Line 5, lead pipes and more. You can read all the stories here.
The 2022 US Water Prize winners were selected from a pool of more than 160 nominations and applications, and the awards ceremony took place Tuesday in Milwaukee. Other winners honored include the City and County of Honolulu and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, recognized for bringing new approaches to water management.
See what new members are saying about why they donated to Bridge Michigan:
- “In order for this information to be accurate and unbiased it must be underwritten by its readers, not by special interests.” - Larry S.
- “Not many other media sources report on the topics Bridge does.” - Susan B.
- “Your journalism is outstanding and rare these days.” - Mark S.
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