{"id":1217,"date":"2009-09-29T01:33:27","date_gmt":"2009-09-28T19:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pacd.org\/?page_id=1217"},"modified":"2020-05-07T18:03:55","modified_gmt":"2020-05-07T18:03:55","slug":"erie-watershed","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pacd.org\/?page_id=1217","title":{"rendered":"Erie Watershed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12655\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pacd.org\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/PAWatershedMapErie-300x217.jpg\" alt=\"PAWatershedMapErie\" width=\"300\" height=\"217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pacd.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/PAWatershedMapErie-300x217.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pacd.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/PAWatershedMapErie.jpg 432w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n\n<ul>\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dep.pa.gov\/Business\/Water\/PlanningConservation\/StateWaterPlan\/Pages\/default.aspx\/docs\/Publications\/06-upper_middle_susquehanna_region.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">State Water Plan<\/a><\/li>\n \t<li><a href=\"#facts\">Lake Erie Facts<\/a><\/li>\n \t<li><a href=\"#cover\">Land Cover (Percent of Watershed)<\/a><\/li>\n \t<li><a href=\"#region\">The Great Lakes Region at a Glance<\/a><\/li>\n \t<li><a href=\"#climate\">Regional Climate<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong><a id=\"facts\"><\/a>Lake Erie Facts <\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n \t<li>Name derived from Native American \u201cErielhonan\u201d tribe, meaning \u201clong-tails,\u201d which once inhabited the area.<\/li>\n \t<li>Lake Depth: Average \u2013 62 feet; Maximum \u2013 210 feet<\/li>\n \t<li>Lake Volume: 116 cubic miles<\/li>\n \t<li>Lake Surface Area:\n<ul>\n \t<li>Total \u2013 9,910 square miles<\/li>\n \t<li>Pennsylvania \u2013 750 square miles<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n \t<li>Basin Area:\n<ul>\n \t<li>Total \u2013 30,140 square miles<\/li>\n \t<li>Pennsylvania \u2013 511 square miles<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n \t<li>Shoreline:\n<ul>\n \t<li>Total \u2013 871 miles (including islands)<\/li>\n \t<li>Pennsylvania \u2013 63 miles<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n \t<li>Major Tributaries:\n<ul>\n \t<li>Conneaut Creek<\/li>\n \t<li>Walnut Creek<\/li>\n \t<li>Elk Creek<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong><a id=\"cover\"><\/a>Land Cover (Percent of Watershed)<\/strong><\/h4>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Lake Erie Sub-basin Forest<\/td>\n<td>40%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Agriculture (crop\/pasture)<\/td>\n<td>33%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Developed<\/td>\n<td>15%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Wetlands<\/td>\n<td>4.0%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Open Water<\/td>\n<td>&lt;1%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Barren (rock\/sand\/clay)<\/td>\n<td>5%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h4><strong><a id=\"region\"><\/a>The Great Lakes Region at a Glance <\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Lake Erie is the southernmost of the five Great Lakes and is also the shallowest, with an average depth of only 62 feet. This makes it the warmest and most biologically active of the Great Lakes and has allowed for a booming commercial fishing\u00a0industry, as well as\u00a0many other industries and recreational opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>Because it is part of the largest freshwater resource in the world, Lake Erie&#8217;s watershed is densely populated, extensively farmed, and highly industrialized. With drainage from Ontario, Canada and the states of Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, Lake Erie is impacted by the activities of approximately\u00a012 million residents.<\/p>\n<p>The watershed includes 63 miles of shoreline and the only coastal beach, Presque Isle, in the state.<\/p>\n<p>The outlet for Lake Erie is the Niagara River; consequently, it is Lake Erie that feeds water to Niagara Falls.<\/p>\n<p>Lake Erie is the twelfth largest\u00a0lake in the world (in area), and its border includes four states (New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan) and one Canadian Province (Ontario).<\/p>\n<p>Lake Erie is the only Great Lake with three basins: the western basin includes the islands area; the central basin extends from the islands to about Erie, Pennsylvania, and Long Point, Canada; and the eastern basin extends from Erie, Pennsylvania to the east end of the lake.<\/p>\n\n<h4><strong><a id=\"climate\"><\/a>Regional Climate <\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The climate of the Great Lakes Region is generally affected by three factors: air masses from other regions, the basin\u2019s location within a large continental landmass and the moderating influence of the lakes themselves. Weather conditions constantly change as a result of alternating flows of warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico and cold, dry air from the Arctic. In addition, the lakes are responsible for moderating temperatures and producing ample precipitation to the region. The lakes act as a giant heat sink\u2014they release stored heat in the fall and winter and are slow to heat up in the spring and summer\u2014which leads to milder seasonal temperatures on land. Evaporation of the lakes\u2019 surface waters adds moisture to the air year-round, which is delivered on-shore as rain or snow.<\/p>\n<p><em>Sources:<\/em><\/p>\n\n<ul>\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dep.pa.gov\/Business\/Water\/PlanningConservation\/StateWaterPlan\/Pages\/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.dep.pa.gov\/Business\/Water\/PlanningConservation\/StateWaterPlan\/Pages\/default.aspx<\/a><\/li>\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www2.erie.gov\/environment\/index.php?q=lake-erie-watershed-protection-alliance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www2.erie.gov\/environment\/index.php?q=lake-erie-watershed-protection-alliance<\/a><\/li>\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lakeeriewaterkeeper.org\/lake-erie-facts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/lakeeriewaterkeeper.org\/lake-erie-facts\/\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>State Water Plan Lake Erie Facts Land Cover (Percent of Watershed) The Great Lakes Region at a Glance Regional Climate Lake Erie Facts Name derived from Native American \u201cErielhonan\u201d tribe, meaning \u201clong-tails,\u201d which once inhabited the area. Lake Depth: Average \u2013 62 feet; Maximum \u2013 210 feet Lake Volume: 116 cubic miles Lake Surface Area: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1197,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1217","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacd.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacd.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacd.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacd.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacd.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pacd.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1217\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacd.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacd.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}