About Ontario ... Natural Resources ... Water and Lakes
Geospatial satellite image courtesy of GLIN website presented here for educational purposes only.
The Great Lakes:
Water:
Ontario’s quarter million lakes and countless rivers and streams played a central role in the province’s history and development. For Aboriginal peoples and the early European settlers, the lakes and rivers were a means of transportation and a source for food. Waterways determined the patterns of settlement as well as the patterns of industrialization. In the early 20th century, Ontario Hydro began harnessing the awesome power of the Niagara Falls to provide reliable electricity to homes and businesses.
The Great Lakes:
The Great Lakes are Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. Combined, these lakes hold one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water. The five Great Lakes, four of which straddle the border between Canada and the United States are the world’s biggest continuous body of fresh water. A Canada/U.S. commission jointly manages the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Basin covers an area of 750,000 square kilometers; this basin includes eight U.S. states, most of southern Ontario and extends into northern Ontario.
The maps presented below are displayed on this website for information purposes only. They originated from GLIN, Great Lakes Information Network. For more comprehensive coverage of this topic, visit: GLIN http://www.great-lakes.net/index.html
To see larger versions of these excellent maps, please go to the GLIN Maps section: http://gis.glin.net/maps/
The Great Lakes support 33 million people, including 9 million Canadians and 8 of Canada’s 20 largest cities. The lakes provide drinking water to 8.5 million Canadians. The combined shoreline of the Great Lakes is equal to about 45% of the earth’s circumference. The Great Lakes support 45% of Canada’s industrial capacity and 25% of its agricultural capacity, and contribute $180 billion to Canada-U.S. trade annually. The lakes sustain a $100 million commercial fishing industry and a %350 million recreational fishing industry and every year 1.5 million recreational boaters enjoy the Great Lakes.
Interesting Environment Canada Web Sites:
Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands - Science & Conservation
(About Bald Eagle populations in the Great Lakes Region)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Site:
Great Lakes - An Environmental Atlas & Resource Book
(A source of Great Lakes maps)
OntarioSasquatch
