User:Vonderk4/sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Great Lakes Basin is defined by watersheds that drain into the Great Lakes of North America. The basin encompasses the surrounding U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and the Canadian province of Ontario. The direct surface runoff and watersheds from these lands form a large drainage basin that feeds into the lakes, which make up 85% of North America’s and 20% of the world’s surface freshwater resources. The basin covers about 94,000 square miles (240,000 square km). About 8% of the U.S. population and 32% of the Canadian population live within the Basin, which lies at the center of the Great Lakes region. [1]
According to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 2012, the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem is defined as “the interacting components of air, land, water and living organisms, including humans, and all of the streams, rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water, including groundwater, that are in the drainage basin of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River at the international boundary or upstream from the point at which this river becomes the international boundary between Canada and the United States.” [2]