PORT HURON, MI -- The Saint Clair River is a major trunk line for commercial navigation. But, is it also possible that it's draining the Great Lakes?

The river partially connects Lake Michigan and Lake Huron to Lake Erie.

International Joint Commission Public Affairs Advisor John Nevin said Erie’s lower elevation makes the Saint Clair River act as a drain.

“If the Saint Clair River erodes or is dredged, that makes that drain bigger…more water runs out of the Lake Michigan-Lake Huron bathtub into the Lake Erie bathtub,” Nevin said.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The state Department of Natural Resources has lifted boating restrictions on three northeastern Indiana lake chains because lake levels have returned to acceptable levels.

The DNR said Wednesday it has lifted temporary restrictions for motor boats on the Barbee Lake chain, including Kuhn, Big Barbee, Little Barbee, Irish, Sechrist, Sawmill and Banning lakes; the Tippecanoe Lake chain, including Lake Tippecanoe, James Lake (Little Tippy), and Oswego Lake; and the Indian Lake chain, including Westler, Witmer, Dallas, Hackenburg and Messick lakes.

KEY WEST, Florida Keys — Minimal construction and marginal seaworthiness should produce maximum hilarity Sunday, May 26, during the 22nd annual Schooner Wharf Minimal Regatta. Only boats made of thin plywood and duct tape are allowed in the offbeat Memorial Day Weekend regatta.

The float-or-founder fun is set to begin at noon Sunday off the Schooner Wharf Bar, 202 William St. in Key West's Historic Seaport.

Each six-member team is allowed a single sheet of 4-by-8-foot plywood, two 8-foot-long 2-by-4s, a roll of duct tape and a pound of fasteners to build their boat.

More signs of spring in Orleans County as Lake Breeze Marina prepared more than 100,000 king salmon to be released into Lake Ontario.

In an effort to improve end of the season fishing, charter boat captains met on Wednesday to put 106,000 king salmon into pens to later be released into Lake Ontario.

The Great Lakes — Superior, Huron, Michigan, Ontario and Erie — make up the largest body of fresh water on Earth, accounting for one-fifth of the freshwater surface on the planet at 6 quadrillion gallons. The area of all the Great Lakes is 95,160 square miles (246,463 square kilometers).

The lakes are on the U.S.-Canadian border, touching Ontario in Canada and Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York in the United States. About 34 million people in the United States and Canada live in the Great Lakes basin. More than 3,500 species of plants and animals inhabit the Great Lakes basin, including 170-plus species of fish.