Ann Arbor, Michigan/Chicago, Illinois — A report released today on Great Lakes water use demonstrates the region’s ongoing commitment to coordinated, science-based management of the world’s largest freshwater system. The 2024 Annual Report of the Great Lakes Regional Water Use Database shows that water withdrawals in the basin remained stable, with the vast majority of withdrawn water returned to the Great Lakes St. Lawrence River Basin.

Overall, the basin gained a total of 345 million gallons of water per day in 2024; by comparison, the basin lost 550 million gallons per day in 2023. This change is primarily due to an increase in the amount of water diverted from the Hudson Bay watershed into the Lake Superior basin through the Long Lac and Ogoki diversions in northern Ontario.

The report found that 35.7 billion gallons of water per day were withdrawn from the Great Lakes basin in 2024, representing a less than 1% increase from 2023. Just under 5% of the total reported water withdrawn was consumed or otherwise lost from the basin. Thermoelectric power production (once-through cooling), public water supply, and industrial use were the primary water use sectors.

The report’s findings were shared at the December meeting of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Council and the Great Lakes St. Lawrence River Water Resources Regional Body. Since 1988, the eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces have reported water use data to the Great Lakes Commission, which compiles and summarizes these datasets into an annual report. This report meets requirements of the Great Lakes Compact and Agreement, and strengthens shared stewardship of the basin’s waters by improving access to consistent information on how water is withdrawn, used, and conserved across the region.

“This report gives the Great Lakes states and provinces the information needed to better manage water use in the largest surface freshwater system in the world, but also serves as an example of how interstate compact agencies can leverage each other’s strengths and share expertise to the benefit of everyone in the basin,” said Great Lakes Commission Chair Timothy Bruno, Great Lakes Program Coordinator at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

“The value of shared regional water use reporting is more evident than ever,” said Loren Wobig, chair of the Regional Body and Compact Council. “This reporting is an important tool in supporting the regional water resources management that is so vital to future development in the Great Lakes region.”

“For more than 15 years, the Compact and Agreement have provided a model for regional cooperation and responsible water management,” said Peter Johnson, deputy director of the Conference of Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers (GSGP). “This annual reporting initiative is central to advancing sound decision-making, sustainable economic development, and long-term protection of our region’s waters.”

The 2024 Annual Report of the Great Lakes Regional Water Use Database is available at waterusedata.glc.org.

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The Great Lakes Commission, led by Chair Timothy Bruno, is a binational government agency established in 1955 to protect the Great Lakes and the economies and ecosystems they support. Its membership includes leaders from the eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces in the Great Lakes basin. The GLC recommends policies and practices to balance the use, development, and conservation of Great Lakes water resources and brings the region together to address issues no single entity can tackle alone. Learn more at www.glc.org.

The Great Lakes St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact Council is comprised of the Governors of the eight Great Lakes States and is responsible for implementing the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact in the United States. The Compact, which is both State and U.S. Federal law, protects the largest freshwater body on earth.

The Great Lakes St. Lawrence River Water Resources Regional Body consists of the Governors of the eight Great Lakes States and the Premiers of Ontario and Québec. Formed under the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement, the Regional Body promotes coordinated review, information sharing, and cooperative action in managing Great Lakes water resources across the international border.