Will Lake Erie ever be clean?

The good news is that because Lake Erie is so shallow and turns over every 2.6 years, that it can get healthy pretty fast if the problem sources are reduced/eliminated.



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Lake Erie has a lake retention time of 2.6 years, the shortest of all the Great Lakes. The lake's surface area is 9,910 square miles (25,667 km2). Lake Erie's water level fluctuates with the seasons as in the other Great Lakes.

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The pollution process was exacerbated by water flowing into the lake from various industrial cities. Detroit was home to factories that dumped acids, iron and oil wastes into the river that flowed into Lake Erie at its Western end. Runoffs from Cleveland farms carried wastes into the lake from its Southern end.

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Lake Superior is the Cleanest and Clearest Great Lake Because of its somewhat isolated location and long cold winters, not much farming is done along Superior's shores. This means lower amounts of nutrients, sediments, and organic material are floating around the lake.

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Although small in volume, Lake Erie is a thriving, productive environment.

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In the first half of 2023, Lake Erie's water levels are expected to be lower than in 2022 by anywhere from 6 inches to 14 inches, according to predictions from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers included in its December 2022 water level summary.

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While it is doubtful the lake will face as drastic changes as it did during the Pleistocene Epoch, it is in fact likely that Niagara Falls will, in time, migrate up stream causing it to converge with Lake Erie waters. However by the time that takes place, the basin of Lake Erie will have lowered significantly.

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The falls could be replaced by a series of rapids. 50,000 years from now, at the present rate of erosion, the remaining 20 miles to Lake Erie will have been undermined. There won't be a falls anymore, but there will still be a river at work.

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According to the average of their simulation ensemble, by 2040–2049, the average annual water levels of Lake Superior, Michigan-Huron, and Erie are projected to increase by 0.19, 0.44, and 0.28 m, respectively, relative to 2010–2019 under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 scenario.

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While at times Lake Erie can be flat and calm, as wind blows across Lake Erie's surface, energy is transferred from the wind to the water. This energy generates currents and builds waves.

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The lake was also an important strategic defense because of possible British invasion from the North. The Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River offered avenues of assault if the British controlled them, making Lake Erie a vital link in America's plans to win the war.

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Keeping Lake Erie alive: A four-point plan to tackle algae blooms
  1. Harnessing market forces to help farmers reduce nutrient runoff.
  2. Building water smart cities and cultivating water smart citizens.
  3. Improving scientific understanding of algal blooms and their implications.
  4. Creating a policy framework that drives action.


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Opening of the Lake Erie - Niagara River Ice Boom for 2022-2023 ice season is planned to begin as early as March 2, 2023. More information can be found in the Lake Erie - Niagara River Ice Boom Opening media advisory for the 2022-2023 ice season.

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According to the average of their simulation ensemble, by 2040–2049, the average annual water levels of Lake Superior, Michigan-Huron, and Erie are projected to increase by 0.19, 0.44, and 0.28 m, respectively, relative to 2010–2019 under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 scenario.

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The eastern basin, which lies to the east of Erie, Pennsylvania (U.S.), and Long Point, Ontario (Canada), is the deepest and least productive of the three basins. Here, water up to 210 feet deep provides colder conditions for fish that cannot tolerate warm summer temperatures elsewhere in the lake.

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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.

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Pollution, for the most part, the Canadian side of Lake Erie is safe to swim in unless there is an algae bloom resulting from a period of hot, calm summer weather. (If there happens to be an algae bloom, head north to the the beautiful beaches at Grand Bend on Lake Huron where the cooler water deters the algae blooms.)

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Things improved for the lake with the passage of environmental legislation in the 1970s. Bihn believes that Lake Erie is one of the great success stories of the Clean Water Act of 1972, leading some to dub it the comeback lake.

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