Changing State Water Allocation Laws to Protect the Great Lakes

Abstract

The Great Lakes are five of the world's largest freshwater lakes, constituting about 84 percent of the total fresh surface water in North America and about 22 percent of the total fresh surface water on the planet.' Thus the Lakes were long considered an inexhaustible resource.2 Today, some would characterize the Lakes as non-renewable resources because less than 1 percent of the Lakes' waters are renewed annually by precipitation.' The Lakes today face serious challenges from pollution,4 invasive species,' wetland loss, 6 climate disruption,' and declining lake levels.8 The Lakes