FLINT, MI - A progressive group is calling for Gov. Rick Snyder's resignation after emails revealed his inner circle of advisors knew about Flint's water issues and worked to dodge the state's Freedom of Information Act laws.

Progress Michigan called for Snyder's resignation Friday, Feb. 26, after emails the governor released to the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press showed his staff knew about the city's water problems and even recommended switching back to Detroit as the city's water source just months after the switch to the Flint River in April 2014.

"There's no reasonable person who can believe at this point that every top advisor to Rick Snyder knew that there was an issue, but Snyder knew nothing," said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan. "At worst he's been lying all along and at best he's the worst manager on the planet. Under either scenario he's clearly unfit to lead our state and he should resign immediately."

The emails show, according to the Detroit newspapers, that two of Snyder's top advisors, Valerie Brader and Mike Gadola, called for the switch after General Motors announced it would stop using the city's water supply over fears it would corrode engine parts.

Brader, Snyder's environmental policy advisor, indicated that she sent different emails to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and other gubernatorial aides in an attempt to avoid release of the information through the state's FOIA laws, according to the reports.

Snyder and his administration are exempt from FOIA under state law.

"As if it isn't bad enough that the Governor's administration knew about the Flint water issues and did nothing, we also find out that Snyder's deputy legal counsel was purposely writing separate emails to avoid the state's Freedom of Information Act," Scott said. "All of this behavior is unacceptable and Governor Snyder must be held accountable for the egregious failures that have occurred on his watch."

The city eventually switched back to Detroit water in October 2015.

The city is in the national spotlight after elevated blood lead levels were discovered in some Flint children after the city changed its water source from Lake Huron water purchased from the Detroit water system to the Flint River in April 2014, a decision made while the city was being run by a state-appointed emergency manager.

State regulators never required that the river water be treated to make it less corrosive, causing lead from plumbing and pipes to leach into the water supply.

Even though the city reconnected to the Detroit water system in October, local and state officials have warned pregnant women and young children against using the water unless it has been tested because lead levels continue to exceed what can be handled by a filter.

Snyder officials could not be reached for comment. The governor is set to testify next month in front of a U.S. House committee investigating the city's water issues.