A recent study published by the United States Geological Survey says that there are concerns about water usage and availability in the upcoming decades across the Great Lakes basin including many major cities.

Your reasoning may be the same as mine when I read the article, why? With so much abundant freshwater, how can there possibly be concerns about shortages? But the study finds that potential climate changes combined with increasing population in Great Lakes cities such as Chicago, Toronto, Detroit, Buffalo, and Milwaukee could lead to shortages of potable drinking water down the road.

As an example the USGS states "For example, though groundwater pumping has had relatively little effect on water in the basin as a whole, pumping in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas has caused local groundwater levels to decline as much as 1,000 feet. Moreover, if pumping were to increase as anticipated in the region, water levels in these areas are estimated to decline an additional 100 feet by 2040".

Water usage in the Great Lakes is determined in principal by a few factors, namely, the storage of both surface and groundwater in the system, flow of water through that system, and at times competition over the usage of that water both ecologically and for human use.

Changes in both the short and long term climate could also lead to changes in the amount of water available. The Great Lakes respond quickly to potential climate changes.

It does appear that the biggest potential for water concerns and competition will reside in the largest cities in the Great Lakes.

Still, Northern Michigan could someday be impacted too based on the results of the study.

More information on the study can be found by CLICKING HERE.  You can also check out the lake levels HERE.