• Approximately 20,000 years ago the climate warmed, the Laurentide ice sheet retreated and the melting glacier filled the basins forming the Great Lakes

 

• The Great Lakes hold approximately 90% of the freshwater in the United States and approximately 20% of the entire world’s freshwater supply

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• The five Great Lakes span a total area of 94,600 miles and are all connected by a variety of lakes and rivers, making them the largest freshwater system in the world

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• There are approximately 40 million residents of the U.S. and Canada that depend on our Great Lakes system for clean drinking water

 

• More than 200 million tons of cargo pass through our Great Lakes waters per year

 

• The Great Lakes touch eight different states; Michigan is the only state that touches four of the five Great Lakes; and Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake that does not touch Canada

 

• The Great Lakes ecoregion contains a variety of natural habitats including aquatic, forest, marsh, wetland and dune ecosystems that support more than 3,500 species of plants and animals

 

• Agriculture, commercial and sport fishing, recreation, tourism, manufacturing and shipping are dependent upon our waterways and are critically important to millions, as they create jobs and provide goods and services