Great Lakes shorelines are becoming clogged by algae blooms fed by agricultural run-off, while invasive mussels decimate the food chain in deeper waters, an environmental group said on Tuesday.

Six Great Lakes states that unsuccessfully sought a court order to seal off the lakes from invading Asian carp on Wednesday asked other states to apply pressure on Congress to act.

States bordering on the Great Lakes are adhering -- with a few exceptions -- to a compact not to withdraw too much lake water that sustains 40 million people, environmental groups said on Tuesday.

Without keen oversight, the Great Lakes that contain one-fifth of the world's supply of fresh water could experience "death by a thousand straws," said Marc Smith of the National Wildlife Federation,

Chicago waterways long used to carry away the city's waste must be cleaned up expeditiously so residents can play in them, the U.S.

Environmental groups on Tuesday sued the city of Chicago's water treatment authority, charging its sewage promotes algae growth that is choking Midwestern rivers and contributes to the Gulf of Mexico's "dead zone."

The federal lawsuit demands Chicago's Metropolitan Water Reclamation District deal with frequent runoff of untreated sewage into local waterways during storms that cause problems dow