In the first major environmental endorsement in the 18th District state Senate race, Clean Water Action has thrown its support behind Democrat Rebekah Warren of Ann Arbor.

The nonprofit agency is the state’s largest grassroots environmental organization with more than 250,000 members throughout Michigan.

Rebekah Warren

The organization issued a statement calling Warren a strong champion for bipartisan leadership in creating local jobs and protecting Michigan’s natural resources.

“Rebekah has been an unwavering and visionary leader protecting Michigan’s Great Lakes,” said Clean Water Action Director Cyndi Roper. “She has earned our support with smart policies that ensure Michigan won’t exploit our precious water resources in exchange for short-term gains.”

Clean Water Action cited Warren's passage of legislation to protect the Great Lakes from exports and diversions, encourage “smart growth” to preserve farmland and green space, create jobs by increasing energy conservation and renewable energy standards, reduce out-of-state trash and reward recycling, and eliminate invasive species such as Asian carp.

Warren chairs the Great Lakes and Environment Committee in the House of Representatives. She said that under her leadership the state has adopted major water protection policies that previously languished in the Legislature. As one example of her accomplishments, she cited the Great Lakes Basin Compact, a multistate agreement to restrict water withdrawals from the lakes.

The Great Lakes Basin holds about 90 percent of the nation’s fresh water supply and supports a commercial and sportsfishing industry worth several billion dollars. As "water wars" emerge around the world, Warren said, the future of Michigan will be determined by how it protects and manages the Great Lakes for future generations.

“Michigan’s lakes, great and small, are national treasures,” Warren said in a statement. “We have a duty to the world to ensure that they are protected from misuse and a pressing regional economic need to manage sustainably.”

Among her accomplishments, Warren also cited that in 2008 she built a bicameral coalition to restore funding to the Michigan wetlands protection program. Lately she has supported efforts to incorporate Michigan’s ban on drilling in the Great Lakes into the state constitution.

Warren, who previously was honored as Clean Water Action’s Legislator of the Year, is running for Senate against fellow Democrats Pam Byrnes and Thomas Partridge in the Aug. 3 primary. The winner faces off against either Gary Wellings or John Hochstetler, who are vying for the Republican nomination in next month's primary.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.