Lake Huron Basin Michigan State University Cooperative Extension Service Michigan SeaGrant Issued January pages

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Imogene Fisher
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1 MSU Extensin Publicatin Archive Archive cpy f publicatin, d nt use fr current recmmendatins Up-t-date infrmatin abut many tpics can be btained frm yur lcal Extensin ffice Lake Hurn Basin Michigan State University Cperative Extensin Service Michigan SeaGrant Issued January pages The PDF file was prvided curtesy f the Michigan State University Library Scrll dwn t view the publicatin

LAKE HURON Lake Hurn is the secnd largest Great Lake and the fifth largest freshwater lake in the wrld It has the lngest shreline f the Great Lakes, cunting the shrelines f its 30,000 islands One f

2 LAKE HURON Lake Hurn is the secnd largest Great Lake and the fifth largest freshwater lake in the wrld It has the lngest shreline f the Great Lakes, cunting the shrelines f its 30,000 islands One f these islands, Manitulin Island, is the largest freshwater island in the wrld Gergian Bay and Saginaw Bay are the tw largest bays n the Great Lakes Early explrers listed Gergian Bay as a separate sixth lake because it is nearly separated frm the rest f Lake Hurn by Manitulin Island and the Bruce Peninsula In fact, Gergian Bay is large enugh t be amng the wrld's 20 largest lakes Hurn receives the flw frm bth Lake Superir and Lake Michigan, but water flws thrugh Lake Hurn (retentin time) much mre quickly than thrugh either f them Hurn was the first f the Great Lakes t be discvered by Eurpean explrers Shipwrecks are scattered thrughut the lake, with five bttmland preserves in Michigan and a natinal park in OntariO designated t prtect the mst histrically significant nes The Lake Hurn basin is heavily frested, sparsely ppulated, scenically beautiful, and ecnmically dependent n its rich natural resurces WATER USE The Great Lakes prvide water fr many purpses: residential, cmmercial and institutinal facilities; agricultural peratins; industrial prcesses; electric pwer generatin; navigatin; sanitatin; recreatin; and habitat fr fish, waterfwl and ther aquatic rganisms In 1987, the Great Lakes states and prvinces established at the Great Lakes Cmmissin a reginal water use data base fr the Great Lakes basin and the individual lakes Hwever, as f 1989, it was nt yet pssible t btain accurate infrmatin fr all categries f water use in Lake Hurn ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE Turism: Imprtant surce f incme fr reginal ecnmy Five bttmland preserves and ne underwater park The lake area has thusands f seasnal hmes LAKE HURON l,, J Extensin Bulletin E-1868 January 1990 its AOCs The gvernments will reprt t the IJC regularly n prgress in develping and implementing the RAPs New sewage treatment plants n the Saginaw River have met the gals f Michigan's Pint Surce Phsphrus Reductin Strategy, thus reducing the prblem f phsphrus pllutin in Saginaw Bay The Michigan Department f Natural Resurces has enacted rules requiring municipal wastewater treatment facilities t develp industrial pretreatment prgrams Twenty-seven municipal plants in the Saginaw River basin receive industrial wastes SPONSORS/INFORMATION SOURCES MICHIGAN SEA GRANT COLLEGE PROGRAM Michigan State University 334 Natural Resurces Building East Lansing, MI (517) r The University f Michigan 2200 Bnisteel Bulevard Ann Arbr, MI (313) Internatinal Jint Cmmissin Great Lakes Reginal Office 100 Ouellette Avenue, Eighth Flr Windsr, ON N9A 6T3 (519) r p O Bx Detrit, MI (313) CANADA-ONTARIO AGREEMENT Envirnment Canada Cmmunicatins Directrate 25 St Clair Avenue East, Rm 600 Trnt, ON M4T 1M2 (416) r Ontari Ministry f the Envirnment Public Infrmatin Centre 135 St Clair Avenue West Trnt, ON M4V IP5 (416) Great Lakes Cmmissin The Argus Building II 400 Furth Street Ann Arbr, MI (313)

'-'JL_III'~JLJ I " b 4& y, ILA 1J y'-' A'-' 4, hardwd and sftwd prducts in the Lake Hurn basin An apparent lss f 10 percent f frested land in the basin may indicate reduced prductivity in the future

3 '-'JL_III'~JLJ I " b 4& y, ILA 1J y'-' A'-' 4, hardwd and sftwd prducts in the Lake Hurn basin An apparent lss f 10 percent f frested land in the basin may indicate reduced prductivity in the future Industry: One f the largest US chemical prducers is lcated alng the suthern shreline The largest petrchemical center in Canada is at Sarnia, Ontari Michigan ranks furth and sixth in the US in the sale f prtland and masnry cement, respectively, and much f the prductin ccurs in the Lake Hurn basin Mining: Wrld's largest limestne quarry; majr limestne and gypsum prducer; 10 percent f the wrld's nickel reserves and 174 percent f nickel prductin; 10 percent f the uranium prduced by nn-cmmunist cuntries Cpper, platinum, silver and gld depsits are lcated in the area f Ontari nrth f Lake Hurn There are majr salt prducers at Gderich and alng the St Clair River Agriculture: The wrld's majr prducing area f navy beans; ranked first in the US fr grwing all varieties f dry beans The regin prduces 20 percent f all dry beans in the US, and is the leading prducer f dry white beans in Canada Fishery: Cmmercial fishing - Majr species caught in US waters: whitefish, catfish, carp, lake trut and chubs Value in 1986 was $2, (US) fr 4,232,5661b (1,923,894 kg) Majr species caught in Canadian waters: lake whitefish, yellw perch, walleye and chubs Value in 1986 was $6, (CON) fr 2 550,761 kg (5,611,674Ib) Sprtfishing - Nearly 9 millin angler days spent seeking yellw perch, walleye, bass, trut and salmn in 1985 Estimated annual ecnmic impact f $129 millin (US) frm angling in US waters and $148 millin (CON) frm Canadian waters RESOURCE ISSUES Prblem: Inadequate public access t shreline Surce: Private wnership and develpment Effects: Limits public recreatinal use and turist revenues Imprvement: Sme shreline prperty is acquired fr public use as it cmes n market Prblem: Water quality Industrial, navigatinal, municipal and recreatinal uses f the Great Lakes add pllutants t the ecsystem Sme f them may stay in the water r lake sediments fr hundreds f years and affect ther uses f the water Pllutin is usually mst severe in majr ppulatin centers n Great Lakes rivers, harbrs and cnnecting channels The types f prblems include: txic substances in water, sediments and fish; damage t ther rganisms living in r depending n the water; elevated levels f bacteria; high levels f phsphrus and ther nutrients; heavy metals; and aesthetic prblems Overall, the water quality f Lake Hurn is excellent Hwever, prblems have been identified in Saginaw Bay and certain nearshre areas The types and severity f water quality prblems vary thrughut the Great Lakes basin Hwever, the Internatinal Jint Cmmissin (ljc) and Great Lakes jurisdictins have designated 42 "areas f cncern" (AOCs) because f their special water quality prblems Lake Hurn has five AOCs, the fewest f any f the Great Lakes Surces: Primary surces f pllutin include agricultural runff, municipal wastewater treatment plants, autmbile, chemical and petrchemical plants, atmspheric depsitin, a pulp and paper mill and hazardus waste sites Effects: The effects f water quality prblems vary with the types f pllutants in the area Suspended slids: turbidity (reduced visibility that diminishes recreatinal and aesthetic enjyment), which disturbs aquatic systems Phsphrus: eutrphicatin (ver-fertilized water, where excessive plants and algae grw) Txic substances: cntaminated fish, human health risks and resulting ecnmic lsses Imprvements: In 1985, the Great Lakes states and prvinces agreed t clean up and restre the AOCs in the basin Eachjurisdictin is develping "r emedial actin plans" (RAPs) t cntrl and stp ex isting surces f pllutin and restre water quality in Institute f Water Research Michigan State University 334 Natural Resurces Building East Lansing, MI (517) The Center fr the Great Lakes 435 Nrth Michigan Avenue - Suite 1408 Chicag, IL (312) r The Centre fr the Great Lakes Fundatin Blr Street, West, Suite 301 Trnt, ON M5S lw5 (416) Other publicatins in this series are: Great Lakes Basin (E-1865, MICHU-SG ) ; Lake Superir (E-1866, MICHU-SG ) ; Lake Mi chigan (E1867, MICHU-SG ) ; Lake Erie (E-1869, MICHU-SG ); and Lake Ontari (E- 1870, MICHU-SG ) Fr additinal cpies, cntact ne f the rganizatins listed abve, yur cunty Extensin ffice, r the MSU Bulletin Office, 10-B Agriculture Hall, East Lansing, MI The Michigan Sea Grant Cllege Prgram is a cperati ve Great Lakes research, educatin and Extensin prgram f The University f Michigan (U -M) and Michigan State University (MSU) Fund ing is frm the Natinal Oceanic and Atmspheric Administratin, US Department f Cmmerce, and the State f Michigan MSU and U-M are Affirmative Actin/ Equal Opprtunity Institutins Cperative Extensin Service prgrams are pen t al l withut regard t race, clr, natinal rig in, sex, r handicap Issued in furtherance f cperative extensin wrk in agriculture and hme ecnmics, acts f May 8, and June 30, 1914, in cperatin with the US Department f Agriculture, J Ray Gillespie, Interim Directr, Cperative Extensin Service, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI This infrmatin is fr educatin purpses nly Reference t cmmercial prducts r trade names des nt imply endrsement by the Cperative Extensin Service r bias against thse nt mentined Th is bulletin becmes publ ic prperty upn publicatin and may be reprinted verbatim as a separate r within anther publicatin with cred it t MSU Reprinting cannt be used t endrse r advertise a cmmercial prduct r cmpany Revised 1 :90 3OM-KDP-LB MICH U-SG

Lake Hurn Lake Hurn, the secnd largest f the Great Lakes, has mre than 30,000 islands LEGEND Internatinal Brder State/Prvincial Brder Basin Bundary Lake "'" Superir : Natinal Park State/Prvincial

4 Lake Hurn Lake Hurn, the secnd largest f the Great Lakes, has mre than 30,000 islands LEGEND Internatinal Brder State/Prvincial Brder Basin Bundary Lake "'" Superir : Natinal Park State/Prvincial Park Natinal Frest Area f Cncern City ~ Bttmland Preserve * Prt RECYCLED PAPER " LAKE HURON DIMENSIONS (includes Gergian Bay and the Nrth Channel) LENGTH BREADTH DEPTH VOLUME WATER SURFACE AREA DRAINAGE BASIN AREA SHORELINE LENGTH ELEVATION OUTLET RETENTIONIREPLACEMENT TIME POPULATION 206 mi / 331 km 183 mi / 294 km 194 ft / 59 m average; 748 ft / 229 m maximum 850 mi 3 / 3,540 km 3 22,973 mi 2 / 59,500 km 2 50,700 mi 2 / 131,300 km 2 3,827 mi / 6,157 km (including islands) 581 ft / 177 m St Clair River t Lake Erie " 22 years 1,606,518 (US); 941,300 (Canada) " " LAND AND SHORELINE USE The percentages belw were calculated in the 1970s, based n infrmatin cllected by the frmer Great Lakes Basin Cmmissin A study grup frmed by the Internatinal Jint Cmmissin began t assemble current shreline use infrmatin in 1987 LAND USE (Percent f ttal) Canada US Agricultural Residential/industrial 1 6 Frest Other 3 2 SHORELINE USE (Percent f ttal) Canada* US Residential Recreatinal 8 4 Agricultural 4 15 Vacant (Can) 35 Frest (US) 32 Other 19 7 Basin *Shreline Use: Canadian percentages were fr the suthern half f its Lake Hurn shre, the nly part suiveyed fr shreline use The nrthern half is mstly frest Sudbury ~/~, ~, Hrt, h C, hannel ~ umm _ A Killarney,e~ ~_--'L- / ive r ' "

5 Str~ Straits f Mackinal- Mackinac Island Strait I c1 ~ Bis Blanc Lake Old ill CreeT< ~ Island Michigan 7~ "'-i (' Ut)~/}etq: $cy &"et lett' $s " " " ' Gergiai:'J Bay rv1a~n~etawa/] River 0 Sturgen Bay r 0: 0 Thumb Area 000 Lake Hurn I 00 - : s 0 Ontari ~ 0 Lake O~tari 00 Lake Erie

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