TOM HENRY
The Blade
thenry@theblade.com

Data centers, critical mineral mining, and agricultural irrigation threaten to deplete the water-rich Great Lakes region of groundwater, a new report issued Wednesday by a major environmental group asserts.

Groundwater is a type of water many people don’t see but is vital for helping the region’s businesses and 40 million residents maintain their lifestyles, the Chicago-based Alliance for the Great Lakes said.

The Alliance is one of the Great Lakes region’s largest environmental groups. It issued the warning because of the greater dependency on groundwater it has documented, especially in those three areas.