The Lake Superior drainage basin encompasses portions of northern Minnesota, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Ontario and parts of five Wisconsin counties. Lake Superior is a special resource, the largest and cleanest of the Great Lakes, with large stretches of shoreline that maintains its wild character. Among fresh water lakes, only Siberia's Lake Baikal has more volume, while Superior has the largest surface area of fresh water in the world.

This vast resource of fresh water has not experienced the same levels of development, urbanization and pollution as the other Great Lakes. Because of this unique, relatively pristine nature, the Lake Superior basin became the focus of the Lake Superior Binational Program. The program includes a lakewide management plan that addresses the virtual elimination of point source discharges of certain persistent, bioaccumulating toxic substances; cleanup and restoration efforts that will target such things as habitat; special regulatory efforts such as protective designations; and pollution prevention. The effort isn't merely focusing on the waters in the lake, but the ecosystem integrity. This includes the air, land, the wildlife, vegetation and humans in the basin. The project pulls together the resources of numerous agencies, civic, environmental and business groups, tribal authorities and individual citizens.

Lake Superior Watersheds in Wisconsin
The land area of parts of five Wisconsin counties in 16 watersheds in included in the basin. About 753 of Douglas County's 1,309 square miles, 1,200 of Bayfield County's 1,476 square miles, 612 of Ashland County's 1,044 square miles and 404 of Iron County's 757 square miles drain directly to Lake Superior. About 109 square miles of Vilas County drain though the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Lake Superior. (1)

Population: 71,696 (1995 estimate)
Suface area: 1,964,336 acres, 3,069.3 square miles
Watersheds: 16

Click here to see a map of the Lake Superior Basin.

(1) Lake Superior Water Quality Management Plan, March 1999