L. Ontario Waterkeeper ~ Canada, Ontario and the shared 'Lake of Shining Waters'

How much commitment has Canada made to Lake Ontario?  They are worried according to this recent article "Lake of Shame...Ontario's Pollution Problem"  especially about Toronto's old and polluting sewer system. "Lake Ontario is the 14th largest lake in the world: 19,529 square kilometres, 1,146 kilometres of shoreline, 244 metres at its deepest.  Which is one reason it’s not a total cesspool, experts say.  Its size and depth help dissipate the bacteria, which our drinking-water filtration plants kill off with chlorine. But what about the agricultural runoff? The sewage? The industrial sludge? The nuclear waste? The pesticides? Herbicides? Road salt? The toxic by-products of burning medical and municipal waste? The engine oil you poured down the storm sewer? The leftover prescription pills you flushed down the toilet?" . . . From The Star July 8, 2011.

Quick Facts about L. Ontario from Canadian perspective Lake Ontario provides drinking water to 9-million people [in Canada]. The entire Great Lakes system provides water for 30 million people. More Canadians live in the Lake Ontario watershed than any other watershed in the country. The lake never completely freezes because it is so deep. The surface of Lake Ontario has frozen over at least five times, the last time in 1934. Lake Ontario has a “seiche”, a natural rhythmic motion as water sloshes back and forth every 11 minutes. Glaciers formed the lake between 14,000 and 10,000 years ago. The lake is one of the five Great Lakes, which 21% of the world’s surface freshwater. Lake Ontario is the 14th largest lake in the world. All Great Lakes water flows through Lake Ontario before it flows to the Atlantic Ocean. Water takes about 6 years to flow through Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence River Lake Ontario is the most threatened Great Lake. Niagara Falls pours into Lake Ontario. Iroquois and Huron First Nations lived on the lake for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. “Lake Ontario” means “lake of shining waters”. Commercial fishing peaked in the late 1880s; 130 years later, government and NGOs are still working to restore the lake’s native fish populations. Lake Ontario is partially in Canada, partially in the USA. There used to be 150 species of fish in the Great Lakes. The most common fish in Lake Ontario used to be the American Eel. There are over 100 beaches on Lake Ontario.

For more: the Canadian Waterkeeper website www.waterkeeper.ca . . . . And more from CREATE Great Lakes.