World Water Day and Detroit

In honor of World Water Day today, what better time than now to learn some fun facts about the Detroit River.


A View of the Detroit River 

With 72 miles of shoreline, the Detroit River is both an international boundary and the home of 21 islands.

The river covers 39 square miles and is partially responsible for its city's namesake, which means "city of straits" in French. In fact, the river itself is actually a strait - it is the connector between Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie.

Waterborne commerce at the Port of Detroit topped 19 million tons in 1998. The majority of imports during that year were iron ore, cement, coal, and steel. Most of what leaves the port of Detroit for other countries is petroleum.

The website for Friends of the Detroit River - www.detroitriver.org - has some great aerial shots of the river around Belle Isle, as well as lots of information on ways to help preserve and maintain it.

Want to know what's going on at the river at this very moment in time? Visit the Live Detroit River WebCam courtesy of the Great Lakes Maritime Institute's website.