Great Lakes nations maintain coast guard vessels in the Great Lakes. During settlement, the Great Lakes and its rivers were the only practical means of moving people and freight. Barges from middle North America were able to reach the Atlantic Ocean from the Great Lakes when the Welland canal opened in 1824 and the later Erie Canal opened in 1825. By 1848, with the opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal at Chicago, direct access to the Mississippi River was possible from the lakes. With these two canals an all-inland water route was provided between New York City and New Orleans. The
Krivaja (Great Bačka Canal) At the town of Srbobran, the Krivaja turns east, carving a shallow, 15 km long valley, in which it meanders for 33 km before it empties into the Great Bačka Canal, part of the Canal Danube-Tisa-Danube. Total meandering ratio of the whole river is 65:109 (in the valley 15:33), thus the name ("Krivaja"; Serbian for "winding river"). The village of Turija stands on the Krivaja's mouth into the canal, at an altitude of 76 m. The Krivaja drains an area of 956 km, belongs to the Black Sea drainage basin and it is not navigable. Krivaja (Great Bačka Canal) The