About one-third of the total population of the Great Lakes basin is in the Lake Erie watershed. Approximately twelve million people live in the watershed, including seventeen metropolitan areas with more than 50,000 residents. The lake provides drinking water for about eleven million of these inhabitants.

During the 1960s water quality issues in the Great Lakes became a concern and Lake Erie was perceived to be "dying". By the late 1960s, Canadian and American regulatory agencies were in agreement that limiting phosphorus loads was the key to controlling excessive algal growth and that a coordinated lakewide approach was necessary to deal with the phosphorus issue. Open lake phosphorus concentrations declined due to the joint efforts made. These controls represented an unprecedented success in producing environmental results through international cooperation. Geophysical Lake Erie

• Lakewide Management Plans
• Other Plans and Reports
• Lake Erie Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs)

Lakewide Management Plans (LAMPs)

In 1987 the governments of Canada and the United States made a commitment, as part of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement to develop a Lakewide Management Plan for the Great Lakes which is coordinated by federal, state and provincial government agencies. The LaMP unites a network of stakeholders in actions to restore and protect the Lake Erie ecosystem.

• Lake Erie Lakewide Action and Management Plan Annual Report 2014 Exit
• Lake Erie LAMP 2013 Annual Report

Other Plans and Reports

• Lake Erie Binational Nutrient Management Strategy 2011

Lake Erie Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs)

1. Ashtabula River AOC - Ohio
2. Black River AOC - Ohio
3. Buffalo River AOC - New York
4. Clinton River AOC - Michigan
5. Cuyahoga River AOC - Ohio
6. Detroit River AOC - Michigan
7. Maumee River AOC - Ohio
8. Presque Isle Bay AOC - Pennsylvania - DELISTED
9. River Raisin AOC - Michigan
10. Rouge River AOC - Michigan
11. St. Clair River AOC - Michigan
12. Wheatley Harbour AOC - Canada Exit- DELISTED