So let's see here... In 2012 the US sold 9.1 billion gallons of bottled water. That number is from all sales in the United States, not just water from the Great Lakes. There are 6.0x10^15 gallons of water in the Great Lakes. I don't think that selling water is a problem... And for the record, last year there was a long winter, so the snowmelt didn't come till around April. Once that happened and all the snowmelt ran into the Lakes, the water levels were back to normal. I know, I was sailing in Detroit in 2013 so I had first hand knowledge of the water levels.