Great Lakes Areas of Concern rivers, and oceans causing pollution and buildup of sediment. Nonpoint source pollution is said to be the most problematic and hardest to reverse of the types of pollution because it is so hard to regulate and pinpoint where it originates. Many experts agree that nonpoint source pollution is the biggest concern facing the Great Lakes. With the increase of urbanization, a toll has been taken on the lakes in these areas. Lakes that once had stable ecosystems with the appropriate amount of plant life are now full of massive amounts of plants and algae that have been fed by excess
Great Lakes region preserve the water and environmental resources of the Great Lakes and surrounding waterways and aquifers. The Commission's authorities are confirmed by the Canadian and American federal governments, and by its constituent states and provinces. The states and provinces are represented in the Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers. The Great Lakes region takes its name from the corresponding geological formation of the Great Lakes Basin, a narrow watershed encompassing The Great Lakes, bounded by watersheds to the region's north (Hudson Bay), west (Mississippi), east and south (Ohio). To the east, the rivers of St. Lawrence, Richelieu,