Lake Erie, fourth largest of the five Great Lakes of North America. It forms the boundary between Canada (Ontario) to the north and the United States (Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York) to the west, south, and east.
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Lake Erie is owned by the state of Ohio. This was a dispute that went before the Ohio Supreme Court during 2011. The Justices ruled that the state of Ohio owns the lake and shore up to the highest normal part at high tide.
Currents in Lake Erie can be dangerous! Any current flowing faster than 2 mph is considered dangerous. Dangerous currents can exceed 5 mph — faster than an Olympic swimmer can swim. Currents can pull swimmers away from shore.
The water in the Great Lakes is owned by the general public according to the Public Trust Doctrine. The Public Trust Doctrine is an international legal theory – it applies in both Canada and the United States, so it applies to the entirety of the Great Lakes.
The Justices ruled that the state of Ohio owns the lake and shore up to the highest normal part at high tide. The land has to be maintained and protected by the state and is held in trust for the citizens of the state to enjoy.
Why is Lake Erie so important? Erie is the most biologically productive and diverse of all the Great Lakes due to its warm shallow waters. Alongside this astounding biodiversity, more than 11 million people get their drinking water from the Lake Erie watershed.
Lake Erie occupies a basin that was carved out of Earth's crust over millions of years by rivers and glaciers. The oldest rocks from which the basin was carved are about 400 million years old and formed in a tropical ocean reef environment.
Lake Erie has an astonishing 2,000-plus shipwrecks which is among the highest concentration of shipwrecks in the world. Only about 400 of Lake Erie's wrecks have ever been found. There are schooners, freighters, steamships, tugs and fishing boats among them.
Lake Michigan is the third largest Great Lake and the fifth largest lake in the world. Bordered by Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, it is the only Great Lake that lies entirely within the boundaries of the U.S.
The St.Lawrence Seaway extends from Montreal to Lake Erie and includes the Welland Canal. It is this series of locks, canals and channels that links the Atlantic Ocean and St. Lawrence River to Lake Ontario and the four upper Great Lakes.
About one-third of the total population of the Great Lakes basin is in the Lake Erie watershed. Approximately twelve million people live in the watershed, including seventeen metropolitan areas with more than 50,000 residents. The lake provides drinking water for about eleven million of these inhabitants.
About the LakesMeasuring 241 miles across and 57 miles from north to south, the lake's surface is just under 10,000 square miles, with 871 miles of shoreline. The average depth of Lake Erie is only about 62 feet (210 feet, maximum).
The Great Lakes is the world's largest surface freshwater system. Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Lake Erie all flow to the Niagara River. The total area drained by the Niagara River is approximately 684,000 km2.