Madison Begin Nafta agriculture

Michigan is one of the larger agricultural states in the United States so it makes sense that we would use a lot of water for agriculture. But how much water are we actually using and how much is returned? Giant water blooms have been appearing in the Great Lakes and this is a large concern of the people living in the area. There are many suggestions as to why this is, but the amount of water we are taking from the lakes are having an effect on these blooms. Since we are drawing so much water out of the Great Lakes, it is not being replenished enough. These blooms are being made from the amount of waste being put into the lakes without the water being returned. According to Michigan State's students, Saichon Seedang and Patricia E. Norris "Consumptive-use coefficients for agriculture (irrigation and livestock uses) are the largest compared to other uses." This is saying that we use more water for irrigation and livestock than for almost every other use. That's a big deal and should not be taken lightly. Agriculture is an important part of Michigan society and irrigation is needed, but we need to determine how much water we truly need to use and draw from the Great Lakes. As a whole the Great Lakes are losing water yearly and a portion of it is due to the amounts of water we are drawing out for agriculture. This is a major problem with the creation of the Algae blooms in the Lakes.