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Report: Great Lakes not enough to quench water shortage

Posted by: Maven on February 16, 2009 at 5:43 am

From the Gazette:

Even the Great Lakes aren’t great enough to sustain North Americans’ reckless water use in the event of a continentwide water shortage, according to a new report.

The report — titled Sentinels of Change and set for release in Friday’s edition of Science — suggests the Great Lakes’ scant renewal rates would not provide enough water to get through a full-blown crisis.

“I think we have to stop considering the Great Lakes as the thing that’s going to irrigate the Red River Valley and supply water to the dry American southwest,” said University of Alberta biologist David Schindler. He co-authored the paper — a review of recent research into water resources across North America — with two biologists from the U.S.

“It’s like our big bank account with a low interest rate. In the case of Lake Superior, that water is only renewed at a rate of about two-tenths of a per cent a year on average. That’s the sustainable water we have to work with, not the whole lake basin, if we want to continue to have a good lake for future generations.”

Read more from The Gazette by clicking here.

February 16, 2009 · Filed Under National water news

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