Columbia River
The Columbia drains an area of about . Its drainage basin covers nearly all of Idaho, large portions of British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington, ultimately all of Montana west of the Continental Divide, and small portions of Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada; the total area is similar to the size of France. Roughly of the river's length and 85 percent of its drainage basin are in the US. The Columbia is the twelfth-longest river and has the sixth-largest drainage basin in the United States. In Canada, where the Columbia flows for and drains , the river ranks 23rd in length, and the Canadian part of its basin ranks 13th in size among Canadian basins. 
The Columbia shares its name with nearby places, such as British Columbia, as well as with landforms and bodies of water.
Pollution in Canada
Pollution of the Great Lakes, the world’s biggest bodies of fresh water, continue to be a significant problem for both Canada and the United States. According to Derek Stack, executive director of Great Lakes United, "High pollution levels in the Great Lakes basin continue to take an apparent toll on the air and water quality of the ecosystem." 
In 2002, it was reported that the Great Lakes basin was home to 45% of all toxic air pollution in Canada, in turn affecting the Great Lakes' water. An even more recent report suggests that the Alberta oil sands' impact could reach as far as the Great Lakes. The report warns that "[oil] refineries will be using the Great Lakes ‘as a cheap supply’ source for their copious water needs and the area’s air ‘as a pollution dump'."