Photo: Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

Who owns the water 
of the Great Lakes?

“If the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water.” -Ismail Serageldin, 1995 World Band Vice President

 

Introduction As water resources become depleted because of increases in the human population, the Great Lakes evolve as a site of possible public drinking water supply.   Current controversy over the Great Lakes has led to the question, “Should this water be privatized and sold for corporate profit or should this water be protected and preserved, with possible future export to those who are dying from lack of access to safe freshwater?”

Objectives

After completing this activity, students should be able to:

  • Locate and label the Great Lakes and the Great Lakes states

  • Utilize the Internet to search for articles concerning water export in the Great Lakes

  • Gather information from multiple articles to create a viewpoint on water export (sorting out community viewpoints, recognizing this as an international issue)

  • Discuss/debate their viewpoint on the topic with other students in their class that may or may not share their viewpoint

  • Compile information from their resources and from peers' debates to make a logical decision about whether or not to export water from the Great Lakes

 

Teacher Page                                Student Page

 

Return to list of Lessons

 

From Decision Making Activities for the Great Lakes, Who Owns the Great Lakes?.
 Developed by the Ohio Sea Grant Education Program, The Ohio State University. © 2003