Lake Superior Lake Superior Lake Superior (; ), the largest of the Great Lakes of North America, is also the world's largest freshwater lake by surface area, and the third largest freshwater lake by volume. The lake is shared by the Canadian province of Ontario to the north, the U.S. state of Minnesota to the west, and Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the south. The farthest north and west of the Great Lakes chain, Superior has the highest elevation of all five great lakes and drains into the St. Mary's River. The Ojibwe name for the lake is "gichi-gami"
Lake Winnipeg algae threat the 10th largest freshwater lake in the world. The lake consists of three well-defined regions, the larger North Basin, the smaller South Basin, and the connecting body of water defined as the "Narrows", all of which are greatly affected by algae blooms. The surrounding watershed drainage basin is roughly forty times larger than the lake’s surface area, this ratio is higher than any other major lake in the world; this makes Lake Winnipeg susceptible to excessive nutrient levels. Because Lake Winnipeg holds a considerable small volume of water, the water quality is determined by manmade structures and high nutrient loading.