Great Lakes Forever c/o Biodiversity Project 4507 N Ravenswood #106 Chicago, IL 60640 773-496-4020 phone 773-906-1303 fax project@biodiverse.org   Intro :: At the Beach :: Gone Fishing :: Wildlife :: In Our Homes :: Memories More likely than not, the waters of the Great Lakes flow through your faucet at home. This is true if you live in Chicago, Green Bay, or Milwaukee. Each of these communities draw their drinking water directly from Lake Michigan. But it may also be true if you live far inland from the Lakes – and even if you get your water from a private or public well! That’s because water flows to the Great Lakes from a huge area of surrounding land, called the Great Lakes drainage basin. The basin stretches over 200,000 square miles, roughly the size of France, and provides homes and drinking water for over 42 million people in the United States and Canada! Water travels to the Lakes - from all the points within the basin – by many different paths: over land, via rivers and streams and even underground, through fractured rock and loose soil. This groundwater that naturally flows to the Great Lakes is what we tap when we dig a well.So, even if you live in Marquette County, 90 miles from the shores of Lake Michigan, or out by the headwaters of Canada’s Ogoki River, stretching hundreds of miles to meet Lake Superior, as long as you live within the Great Lakes drainage basin, your tap is running water originally destined for the Great Lakes. That means that when we use large amounts of groundwater within the Great Lakes drainage basin, we influence the health of the Great Lakes. Less groundwater means less water flowing through the Great Lakes tributaries, and lowered river, stream and wetland water levels. When streambeds and wetlands dry out, habitat that is important to plants, fish and animals is lost. You can help avert these losses. Learn about the steps you can take to protect and conserve Great Lakes groundwater.     Learn More About Groundwater & the Great Lakes Drainage Basin Groundwater Foundation Learn more about how groundwater works and how overuse can lead to not only habitat destruction, but also drinking water contamination. USGS Ground Water in the Great Lakes Basin Here you’ll find specifics on how groundwater moves through the Great Lakes drainage basin, and how overconsumption may cause health and environmental problems in Milwaukee and other cities.