LAKE ERIE
Lake Erie borders Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario. The
lake also receives surface and ground waters for the northeast portion of the
state of Indiana. Lake Erie contains 116 cubic miles of water and covers 9,910
square miles. The shallowest of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie undergoes wide
temperature swings, warming rapidly in the spring and summer and often
freezing over in the winter. Lake Erie drains 30,000 square miles – 59% of that
land is agricultural, 17% is forested, 15% is industrial and urban, and the
remaining 9% is used for other purposes. Thirteen million people live within
the Lake Erie basin, 86% of them in the United States. Despite its small size, the
Lake Erie basin is the most populated of the Great Lakes and has the most
agriculture. Lake Erie also has historically suffered significant damage from
pollution.