The Great Lakes are one of the largest freshwater systems in the world, and Lake Superior is the largest and the deepest of the five lakes. But in 2007, water levels almost reached a record low, causing unease and uncertainty among the local population. Due to the decline of the water levels, it is evident that Canada should invest more funds into improving the Great Lakes system, as there is much more Canada can and should do to lessen economic and environmental impacts.
First, Canada’s current management of the Lake's conditions is inadequate. The outflow of the water through Sault Ste. Marie and into other Great Lakes is not being tracked accurately (“Lake Superior: Where…”). Currently, it isn’t certain as to how much water actually leaves the lake, as there is a lack of data available to be analyzed. When the water leaving Lake Superior is monitored, more information can be gathered about the further decline of freshwater in the Great Lakes. The Lakes’ effect on erosion must also be tracked, due to the collecting of gravel, or dredging, from the St. Clair River at the base of Lake Huron, as water from Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron, flows out by the river and into the United States (“Lake Superior: Where…”). Lake Superior’s water flows downstream into Lakes Michigan and Huron, and even more will escape, with declining water levels in Michigan and Huron. The Great Lakes Commission wishes to gather more data about the situation, but homeowners in the St. Clair River area are pressuring the Commission to stop its erosion now to prevent further excessive drainage sooner than the data can be collected. Regarding the research, the $17.5 million study by the International Joint Commission into the Lakes’ fluctuating water leve...
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...Levels Dredge Up Tourism." Northern Ontario Business 27.3 (2007): 7-8. Canadian Reference Centre. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
McGuinness, Eric. "GREAT LAKES WATER LEVELS DROP; CARGO SHIPS LIGHTEN THEIR LOAD AND SOME LAKEFRONT COTTAGES ARE NOW INLAND." Hamilton Spectator, The (ON) n.d.: Canadian Reference Centre. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
Mitcher, John G.. "Down the Drain: The Incredible Shrinking Great Lakes."National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. .
"Never-ending Motion: Lake Superior's Wetlands." Minnesota Sea Grant. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. .
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Many people know ‘Lake’ Powell as a fact of life. Since its creation in 1963, the reservoir, known as Lake Powell, is just there. Few people that are alive today have had the opportunity to see the true beauty of Glen Canyon, which rivals the Grand Canyon. Glen Canyon, equivalent to one hundred eighty river miles with dozens of side canyons, was flooded for the purpose of power and water resources. ‘Lake’ Powell also generates an enormous cash flow due to the tourism it receives. Although the ‘lake’ has a few reasons to remain in existence, there are many more reasons to drain it.
The tract within these boundaries comprises an area of thirty-eight thousand six hundred and ten square miles, within the following limits: Commencing within Province of Manitoba above the forty-ninth parallel, along the western border of the Province of Ontario; along the southern shores of Winnipeg River, following its limits westward and north; along the southern shores of Lake Winnipeg moving west, past the Red River, moving westward south of Dennis Lake and Lindals Lake; north of and encompassing North, East, and West Shoal Lake; along the southern river basin of Lake Manitoba and Lake Francis; following the shores of Lake Manitoba westward, southward and then northward; continuing northward to Dauphin Lake along its southern shores, and continuing west to the most westward border of the Province of Manitoba; encompassing all lakes and regions within including the Pleasant Valley Reservoir, Otter Lake, Proven Lake, Bottle Lake, Clear Lake, Oak Lake, Maple Lake, the Whitewater Lakes, Whitemouth Island, Sprague Lake, Moose Lake, and all others; southward along the Mani...
Vannatta, Dennis “Greasy Lake.” Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition, 2004 MagillOnLiterature Plus. Web. 8 April 2006
Perhaps the most devastating disregard of the Fraser Valley’s biodiversity was the draining of Sumas Lake to create farmland, resulting in the loss of habitat and the extirpation of endemic species. As it was originally intended to be, the Fraser Valley was a “perhaps unparalleled ecosystem” (Rosenau, p. 55), with bountiful wetlands and remarkable biodiversity. The European settlers 150 years ago considered it to be “wasteland” (Thom, p. 172), certainly uninhabitable and a breeding ground for mosquitoes, so the most logical thing to do would be to drain the body of water once known as Sumas Lake...
Water is easily available to Canadians. According to Report Newsmagazine, Canada possesses 20% of the world’s Fresh Water. Report also states that Canada possesses only 0.5% of the world’s population. This means that on a per capita basis, Canada has more water than any other nation. Furthermore, water is a renewable resource, which means that once it is used, it may be used again after the water cycle. Many other materials Canada sells to the United States are not renewable. Dennis Owens, the senior Frontier Centre analyst says, “Here we are giving non-renewable oil and gas to the U.S., then water falls from the sky and goes into the ocean and we won’t give it to them.” In Newfoundland, Gisbourne Lake has the potential to drain 500,000 cubic meters of water per week. This drainage would only lower the level of the lake one inch and this would naturally be replenished within ten hours. Canada has cut down trees that will take 100 years to grow back and sold them. S...
Shortly following the glacial retreat of the upper Great Lakes region around 11,000 B.C., the flora and fauna
As global temperatures and ocean levels rise, the water levels of the Great Lakes continues to fall. As the lakes hit their all time lowest level in global history in 2012, society remains ignorant to the imposing doom that lurks ahead. Since the Great Lakes make up the largest group of fresh water lakes on Earth and are responsible for approximately 21% of the Earth’s fresh water supply, this issue is becoming one of the largest environmental and economical issues our modern world faces. The effects of this issue include destroying animal habitats and a major economic market; shipping. Water levels in the Great Lakes have been dropping for the past fourteen years, but it wasn’t until boats were scraping the bottom of Lake Huron that people began to take notice. This terrible environmental issue has been dubbed a long term cycle of over evaporation and not enough precipitation to replenish the Lakes. Keith Kompoltowicz, chief of watershed hydrology for the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Detroit has been monitoring this issue for a decade and has made startling discoveries, such as in 2012, he discovered Lake Michigan and Lake Huron’s water levels only rose four inches after winter, whereas the Lakes have been regularly recorded as gaining a foot of water after the winter season had ended. This amount of water added is not enough to maintain a proper water level during the dry, hot summer seasons that evaporate much water from the Great Lakes. While some scientists say that this is just a cycle that will adjust itself naturally, most experts that have been studying this phenomenon, such as Kompoltwicz, would agree that the issue has gone to far
Now, sustainable development and quality of life are crucial to the well being of our nation. Thus, I have pondered many a year on this very important matter and have consulted a very knowing Canadian of my acquaintance at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The amount of natural resources in this country being usually reckoned infi...
Blue, incredibly clear, and seemingly pure, just twenty years ago it abounded in fish. But now, this exquisite lake is dead, it’s fish wiped out.” Moreover, another developmental device used in the essay “Acid Rain: Scourge from the Skies” was comparison and contrast to show the difference between the amount of polluting oxides that Canada puts into the air each year compared to the
The Great Lakes Heritage Coast is a forward step in protecting and preserving the coastline. There needs to be further action taken in order for this project to be put in place. One of the key aspects in doing so is community involvement, such as First Nations people.
Impacts of Tourism in Swanage Tourism has the potential to create impacts on the environment and communities that it relies on to accommodate visitors. Its impacts are mitigated by the long history of tourism activity. Communities have become used to tourism activity, and management measures to limit some areas of environmental damage have been implemented. Nevertheless, some impacts are far ranging, and they are set out below: * Inappropriate Development An increase in visitors can lead to pressure for new developments to serve and capitilise on their needs, eg. Caravan parks, visitor centres, cafes, signs, car parks, and additional accommodation.
Freshwater is quite scarce, but it is even scarcer than one might think: about seventy percent of all freshwater is frozen in the icecaps of Antarctica and Greenland and is unavailable to humans. Most of the remainder is present as soil moisture or lies in deep underground aquifers as groundwater. It is not economically feasible to extract this waster for use as drinking water. This leaves less than one percent of the world’s fresh water that is available to humans. It includes the water found in lakes, reservoirs, groundwater that is shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost. These freshwater sources are the only sources that are frequently replenished by rain and snowfall, and therefore are renewable. At the current rates of consumption, however, this supply of fresh water will not last. Pollution and contamination of freshwater sources exacerbate the problem, further reducing the amount of freshwater available for human consumption. Something must be done if humans want to even survive in the near future: the lack of clean drinking water is already the number one cause of disease in the world today. The first step is worldwide awareness of the water crisis: governments and the citizens they govern worldwide need to know about this problem and be actively involved in solving this problem.
Smith, Zachary A., and Grenetta Thomassey. Freshwater Issues: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2002. Print
Vael, A.J. (2010), Research Methods for Leisure and tourism, A Practical Guide, 3rd Edition, Prentice Hall.
Rogers, Peter. 2008. "Facing the Freshwater CRISIS. (Cover story)." Scientific American 299, no. 2: 46-53. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 4, 2010).