Western Ohio State Representative Has Problem With Numbers

Columbus Dispatch:

A debate saturated with partisanship over the future of Lake Erie ended in a split along party lines in the Ohio House yesterday.
The resulting 60-37 vote sent House Bill 231 to the Ohio Senate.
The measure establishes rules about withdrawing water from Lake Erie in line with the Great Lakes Compact, adopted by Ohio in 2008. Seven surrounding states also signed the compact, which was designed to stem the flow of water out of the Great Lakes region.
The bill would require permits for businesses that tap more than 5million gallons of water a day from Lake Erie, 2 million from rivers or groundwater supplies, or 300,000 a day from rivers deemed "high quality."
Permits are not now required for water withdrawal, but all eight states in the compact must submit water-use plans in the next two years. Ohio draws 3.5 billion gallons a year from Lake Erie, mostly for power plants, industry and drinking water......
More water is flowing into Lake Erie than is being drawn out of it, Rep. Jim Buchy, R-Greenville, said.
Buchy said 122 billion gallons of water a year flow into Lake Erie from the Detroit River. An additional 15 billion gallons come from runoff, making the total 137 billion gallons.
He said Ohio and other states draw 11 billion gallons a year from the lake and about 17 billion gallons evaporate. Add those to 66billion gallons that flow over Niagara Falls, and the total flow out of the lake is 94billion. He said that leaves a 43 billion-gallon surplus. (emphasis mine).

I call shenanigans.  Buchy says that 137 billion gallons of water flows into the lake and 94 billion gallons flow out.  That leaves 31% of all the water flowing into the lake remaining there.  This would indicate that Lake Erie is rising annually.  I don't think his numbers are anywhere near accurate.  The New York Power Authority, which produces hydroelectric power from the Niagara River, states that on average 1.5 million gallons of water enter the Niagara River from Lake Erie every second.  That computes to 47 trillion gallons per year, slightly higher than the 137 billion gallons Buchy claims are flowing in.  Heck, an inch of rain, falling only on the surface area of the lake, would add 172 billion gallons of water to the lake, assuming evaporation at one end of the lake didn't contribute to the rainfall at the other end of the lake.

I find it interesting that Representative Buchy got all these numbers from somewhere, put them out as facts, but doesn't have the common sense to realize that they probably should balance out to near zero, not that the lake is acculumating 31% of the annual inflow into the basin.  Count me as not impressed.