ACLU of Michigan investigative reporter Curt Guyette (pictured), who has been reporting extensively on the mounting water crisis in financially strapped municipalities such as Flint and Highland Park, authored a heartbreaking look at Flint residents' sadly ironic struggle to obtain clean water in a place known as the Great Lakes State. The piece, which appeared on the Nation magazine's website today, is excerpted below.

As the City of Detroit prepares to again turn off water service to delinquent customers, including many of the city's poorest residents, attorneys from the ACLU of Michigan and a coalition of other groups this week asked a federal court to expedite its hearing of their appeal of a November ruling that permitted the city move forward with its shut-off plans. 

The groups fear that the shutoffs, which have been aimed at residential customers while largely overlooking commercial water users, could pose enormous health risks for the city.