- Ohioans use approximately 11 billion gallons of water each day for everything from electrical generation to drinking water.
- 40% of Ohio’s citizens live within the Lake Erie Basin.
- 85% of Ohio’s shoreline is developed.
- More than one-half million people fish in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie every year.
- More than 417,000 recreational waterfront craft are registered in Ohio, the majority of which spend all or most of their time in Lake Erie (800 of these are charter boats serving the recreational market).

More Lake Erie facts
Lake Erie...
- is the 11th largest freshwater lake in the world.
- contains about 130 trillion gallons of water.
- has a drainage basin of approximately 35,000 square miles in Canada and the U.S.
- is the shallowest of the Great Lakes with the stormiest weather.
- has the warmest water and the most extensive fisheries.
- has 15,000 acres of valuable coastal marshes and estuaries, habitat for waterfowl & wildlife. - Two major bird migration flyways cross at the western end of Lake Erie.
- The most southerly of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie was the first to be formed 20,000 years ago by the Wisconsin glacier during the last ice age.
- The Lake Erie basin has the highest percentage of agricultural use of any of the Great Lakes. The shoreline provides a moderate climate for growing grapes and specialty crops.
- Some 300 chemical compounds have been found in Lake Erie, including PCB’s.
- Flooding can average $100 million in property damage when water levels are high.
- Precipitation throughout the Great Lakes Basin affects Lake Erie water levels.