Large inland waterbodies are oceanic in many ways, facing many of the same issues as the ocean. The USGS conducts research and monitoring in the Great Lakes region and in other inland seas across the country to understand these large bodies of water and inform how we use and manage them.
Great Lakes Science Center
Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) scientists work in the Great Lakes region and other parts of the country to meet the nation’s need for scientific information used by resource managers to restore, enhance, manage, and protect the living resources and habitats in the Great Lakes basin.
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) was established in 2009 to accelerate efforts to protect and restore the Great Lakes. The USGS is collaborating with partners to provide science to meet GLRI Action Plan goals and inform resource management decisions.
Salton Sea
Changes in regional water management practices have reduced freshwater inflow to the Salton Sea, changing what was once a popular vacation destination to a shrinking hypersaline lake. As the lake bed dries, managers will depend on careful monitoring and research to inform critical decisions affecting the future of the lake and surrounding communities.
The Great Lakes
The Great Lakes—Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario—form the largest surface of freshwater in the world, comprising more than 94,250 square miles (244,106 square kilometers) of east-central North America. The lakes are critical components of the regional economies in both the United States and Canada. They are important sources of drinking water, transportation, and irrigation, and provide recreational opportunities such as boating, fishing, hunting, and bird watching, as well as vital habitat to a myriad of wildlife species like the bald eagle. They also face threats such as invasive species, harmful algal blooms, and pressures from human activities related to mining and other resource use and extraction.
Inland Seas
In addition to studying the Great Lakes, USGS scientists are conducting similar research in other inland seas, such as Great Salt Lake and the Salton Sea. This research helps to provide resource managers with the information they need to restore, enhance, manage, and protect living resources and habitats.
Changes in regional water management practices have reduced freshwater inflow to the Salton Sea in Southern California, changing what was once a popular vacation destination to a shrinking hypersaline lake. As the lakebed dries, resource managers will depend on careful monitoring and research to inform critical decisions affecting the future of the lake and surrounding communities. Learn more
The Great Salt Lake is located on a playa, consequently small changes in the elevation of the water surface result in large changes in the surface area of the lake. The USGS has been collecting water-surface-elevation data from Great Salt Lake since 1875 and continuously since October 1902. The north part of the lake has been monitored since April 1966. Learn more
Lake Michigan Basin groundwater system
Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Project
Invasive Phragmites Science: Management Tools for the Control of Invasive Phragmites to Foster the Restoration of the Great Lakes
Harmful Algal Blooms in Pennsylvania
Climate, Storms, and the Drivers of Cyanobacteria Blooms in Lake Superior
Understanding and Forecasting Potential Recruitment of Lake Michigan Fishes
Impacts of Climate Change on Vegetation, Ecohydrology, and Management of Manoomin (Wild Rice) Watersheds
Aquatic Native Species and Habitat Restoration: Coregonine Restoration
Food Web Changes Dampen Expected Reductions in Lake Trout Mercury Levels in Lake Michigan—Invasive Species Play Major Role
Aquatic Native Species and Habitat Restoration: Quantifying Coregonine Habitat Use Dynamics
Invasive Mussel Control Science: Dreissenid Mussel Growth in Lake Ontario
Foundations for Future Restoration Actions: Lake Erie Central Basin Hypoxia Monitoring
- Overview
The Great Lakes
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.The Great Lakes—Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario—form the largest surface of freshwater in the world, comprising more than 94,250 square miles (244,106 square kilometers) of east-central North America. The lakes are critical components of the regional economies in both the United States and Canada. They are important sources of drinking water, transportation, and irrigation, and provide recreational opportunities such as boating, fishing, hunting, and bird watching, as well as vital habitat to a myriad of wildlife species like the bald eagle. They also face threats such as invasive species, harmful algal blooms, and pressures from human activities related to mining and other resource use and extraction.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Large inland waterbodies are oceanic in many ways, facing many of the same issues as the ocean. The USGS conducts research and monitoring in the Great Lakes region and in other inland seas across the country to understand these large bodies of water and inform how we use and manage them. Inland Seas
In addition to studying the Great Lakes, USGS scientists are conducting similar research in other inland seas, such as Great Salt Lake and the Salton Sea. This research helps to provide resource managers with the information they need to restore, enhance, manage, and protect living resources and habitats.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Salton Sea
Changes in regional water management practices have reduced freshwater inflow to the Salton Sea in Southern California, changing what was once a popular vacation destination to a shrinking hypersaline lake. As the lakebed dries, resource managers will depend on careful monitoring and research to inform critical decisions affecting the future of the lake and surrounding communities. Learn more
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Great Salt Lake
The Great Salt Lake is located on a playa, consequently small changes in the elevation of the water surface result in large changes in the surface area of the lake. The USGS has been collecting water-surface-elevation data from Great Salt Lake since 1875 and continuously since October 1902. The north part of the lake has been monitored since April 1966. Learn more - Publications
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Lake Michigan Basin groundwater system
The study area for the Lake Michigan Basin groundwater-flow model encompasses the entire Michigan Structural Basin centered in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and extending into parts of Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, and Ontario, Canada.Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Project
Great Lakes Geologic Mapping ProjectInvasive Phragmites Science: Management Tools for the Control of Invasive Phragmites to Foster the Restoration of the Great Lakes
The USGS is developing innovative Phragmites control measures to keep this rapidly spreading invasive plant from further expanding its range into new wetland habitats and to aid in the development of successful restoration strategies. Scientists are conducting studies and field tests to determine (1) if microbes (i.e., fungi and bacteria) that live within and around Phragmites are enabling the...Harmful Algal Blooms in Pennsylvania
The U.S. Geological Survey is collaborating with State and local partners to develop models that provide real-time estimates of Escherichia coli (E. coli) (for pathogens) and (or) microcystin (for freshwater cyanotoxins) levels at Great Lakes beaches and drinking-water intakes.Climate, Storms, and the Drivers of Cyanobacteria Blooms in Lake Superior
Cyanobacteria blooms are one of the most significant management challenges in the Great Lakes today. Recurring blooms of varying toxicity are commonly observed in four of the Great Lakes, and the fifth, Lake Superior, has experienced intermittent nearshore blooms since 2012. The recent advent of cyanobacterial blooms in Lake Superior is disconcerting, given the highly valued, pristine water qualitUnderstanding and Forecasting Potential Recruitment of Lake Michigan Fishes
Yellow perch and alewife are ecologically, economically, and culturally important fish species in Lake Michigan whose populations support recreational and commercial fisheries. However, both of these species’ populations have been in decline for over 20 years. This project seeks to understand the factors affecting variability in offspring survival of yellow perch and alewife in Lake Michigan in oImpacts of Climate Change on Vegetation, Ecohydrology, and Management of Manoomin (Wild Rice) Watersheds
Manoomin, or wild rice, is an essential, sacred species for Native people throughout the Upper Great Lakes region, who have relied on the plant for food and ceremony for hundreds of years. Manoomin is also important to non-Native people, who also harvest it and benefit from the wildlife sustained by it. Manoomin is an indicator of ecosystem health—if manoomin is healthy so is the surrounding ecosy...Aquatic Native Species and Habitat Restoration: Coregonine Restoration
Human activities have greatly impacted fish populations in the Great Lakes, including various Coregonus species such as deepwater cisco (e.g. bloater (Coregonus hoyi) and lake herring (Coregonus. artedi). The USGS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), National Park Service (NPS), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Department of State (DOS) and Great Lakes Fishery Commision (GLFC) are leading a...Food Web Changes Dampen Expected Reductions in Lake Trout Mercury Levels in Lake Michigan—Invasive Species Play Major Role
Combined analyses of mercury, nitrogen, and carbon isotopes in archived lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) tissues and sediment cores in Lake Michigan from 1978 to 2012 indicated that lake trout mercury concentrations mirrored declines in mercury sources prior to the arrival of invasive species that changed mercury transfer through the food and dampened the expected decreases in mercury...Aquatic Native Species and Habitat Restoration: Quantifying Coregonine Habitat Use Dynamics
Restoring and maintaining extent of native coregonid populations in the Great Lakes is a basin-wide priority. In response, an adaptive framework has identified knowledge gaps associated with spatial dynamics and stock diversity. This project used the Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative (CSMI) with an incredible in-kind support from agencies and universities from across the region to...Invasive Mussel Control Science: Dreissenid Mussel Growth in Lake Ontario
USGS scientists worked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to monitor growth of invasive zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) in Lake Ontario with the goal of improving understanding on the effects these mussels have on the Lake food web.Foundations for Future Restoration Actions: Lake Erie Central Basin Hypoxia Monitoring
The recently reauthorized Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement calls for a reduction in severity and spatial extent of hypoxia (low oxygen zones) with emphasis on Lake Erie’s Central Basin. - Data and More
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