During her short introduction during the Miss America Pageant, Miss Michigan, Emily Sioma, said, "From the state with 84 percent of the U.S. fresh water, but none for its residents to drink, I am Miss Michigan." Ms. Sioma used her brief time in the spotlight to bring attention to the fact that Flint, Michigan still does not have fresh water.

Back in April of 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan changed their drinking water supply from the Detroit River and Lake Huron to the Flint River. This switch was made in order to save money, but due to the insufficient water treatment of the Flint River, the lead from the pipes began to contaminate the drinking water and ended up exposing 100,000 residents to water contaminated with lead, which can cause Legionnaires' disease. Legionnaires' disease is a form of atypical pneumonia which can cause a cough, shortness of breath, fever, muscle pains, and headaches. 12 residents of Flint, lost their lives due to this disease. In order to combat this outbreak, officials told residents to use only bottled water for everything, including cooking and bathing.

In January of 2017, it was declared that the water had returned to acceptable levels, but the residents were to continue to use bottled water for everything until all of the pipes could be replaced. This project can be expected to finish in the year 2020.

While the general public believes that the problem has been fixed it has not. The issue still remains that Flint hasn't had clean drinking water for the past four years. Sioma's efforts reinstated the conversation and prompted a discussion on the internet, therefore spreading the word about the ongoing crisis.

While she didn't win the pageant, Emily Sioma did win over the internet, as many people took to Twitter and Instagram to show their support.