Lake Erie

Lake Erie is the fourth-largest lake (by surface area) of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the thirteenth-largest globally if measured in terms of surface area. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. At its deepest point Lake Erie is 210ft deep.Situated on the International Boundary between Canada and the United States, Lake Erie's northern shore is the Canadian province of Ontario, with the U.S. states of Michigan Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York on its western, southern and eastern shores. These jurisdictions divide the surface area of the lake with water boundaries.The lake was named by the Erie people, a Native Americans people who lived along its southern shore. The tribal name "erie" is a shortened form of the Iroquoian word erielhonan, meaning "long tail".Situated below Lake Huron, Erie's primary inlet is the Detroit River. The main natural outflow from the lake is via the Niagara River, which provides hydroelectric power to Canada and the U.S. as it spins huge turbines near Niagara Falls at Lewiston, New York and Queenston, Ontario. Some outflow occurs via the Welland Canal, part of the St. Lawrence Seaway, which diverts water for ship passages from Port Colborne, Ontario on Lake Erie, to St. Catharines on Lake Ontario, an elevation difference of 326ft. Lake Erie's environmental health has been an ongoing concern for decades, with issues such as overfishing, pollution, algae blooms and eutrophication generating headlines.