The Great Lakes, located in the northeastern part of the U.S., represent five massive bodies of water holding one-fifth of the world’s surface water. Comprised of Lake Superior (the largest), Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Ontario, these lakes (with the addition of Lake St. Clair and the St. Lawrence River as their drainage basin) serve the water needs of eight U.S. states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York) and several Canadian provinces (Ontario and Quebec), all of whom are more or less unwilling to share this vast resource with the lower 48 states, many of which are experiencing either chronic or sudden, inexplicable drought as a result of global warming.