Current Water Uses
No single, accurate, comprehensive database has been complied on the uses of
Great Lakes basin waters. Progress is being made to create a data repository that
satisfies the commitment to develop and maintain a “common base of data and
information regarding the use and management of basin water resources...”
contained in the Great Lakes Charter. In 1995, the annual report of the Great
Lakes Regional Water Use Data Base Repository was made available,
summarizing water use information that was available for the 1992 calendar
year.11 At that time, the states of Michigan and Pennsylvania supplied their best
estimates for several use categories.
The largest single use of water in the basin is for the generation of hydroelectric
power. The Great Lakes Commission reports that, in 1992, 908.7 billion
gallons per day were used to generate hydroelectric power.12 This represents over
94% of the total water reported to have been used in the basin. Neither the total
use figure of 965.2 billion gallons per day nor the amount attributed to hydropower
use includes the water used for hydroelectric generation in the state of
Michigan. The USGS estimates that in 1990, 110 billion gallons per day were used
in the state of Michigan to generate hydroelectric power.13 The actual use by
hydroelectric operation of basin waters likely exceeds one trillion gallons per day.