Boatnerd Discussion Forum

All very interesting. I had no idea it was so shallow. Thanks everyone.

Lake Champlain was, for a time, part of the Great Lakes. On March 6, 1998 President Clinton signed a bill drafted by senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont that would increase research and support for Lake Champlain. It also contained a line stating that it was a Great Lakes that would allow the states of Vermont and New York to access federal funding for research and education.

The bill caused somewhat of an uproar with some mid-western states who were concerned that it wasn't close to being a Great Lakes in size. (That may explain why Lake St. Clair is not considered a Great Lake - its too puny!) After 18 days, Lake Champlain's designation as a Great Lake was rescinded.

https://www.lcbp.org/2025/03/q-why-isnt-lake-champlain-a-great-lake/

Lake St. Clair might appear large from an area standpoint, but it is significantly smaller than the Great Lakes and also not particularly deep, I believe it has an average depth of just around 15 feet. Definitely not worthy of being a Great Lake.

I would possibly put Georgian Bay ahead of any other potential bodies of water as next in line to be a Great Lake, much ahead of Lake St. Clair, which appears mostly to me to just being a wide spot in the St. Clair and Detroit River System. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Hydrologically there are only 4 Great Lakes. Lakes Huron and Michigan are considered one Lake with 2 lobes. They have the same level and free flow of water between them while being connected by a deep Straits at Mackinac. They were named separately because they were discovered by the French and other explorers at different times.

How come there are only 5 Great Lakes? Is there some reason why lake St Clair is not considered the 6th? It's certainly a large lake as lakes go!