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WASHINGTON - The House of Representatives approved the Great Lakes Compact, S.J. Res. 45, today by a vote of 390 to 25. The agreement to protect the lakes' environment, negotiated by the governors of the Great Lakes states and the premiers of Ontario and Quebec, requires federal approval to go into effect.
The Senate approved the resolution Aug. 1, and the President is expected to sign it. Though not bound by U.S. law, Canada's Great Lakes provinces have agreed to abide by the deal.
The Compact will impose regulations and reporting requirements on large diversions of water from the lakes and mandate conservation programs to protect the region's water supply.
"The Compact is an absolute necessity to protect our environment and economy," said Rep. Tom Petri, a member of the Congressional Great Lakes Task Force. "I've worked diligently with my colleagues to get it done."
As a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Petri participated in an April Green Bay field hearing on low water levels in the lakes. He has communicated with the International Great Lakes Study (IGLS) board of the International Joint Commission, and with the governors of the Great Lakes states to express concerns about low water levels, emphasizing the economic and environmental importance of the lakes, and to advocate the Compact.
"This legislation creates a legal framework for working jointly among the states and with the Canadian provinces to protect our Great Lakes ecology. Its passage is a great step forward both for the environment and for the economies of states like Wisconsin, which depend on the responsible use of our water resources," Petri said.
"The Great Lakes are, of course, a unique world resource. They are the largest collection of fresh water in the world, but they also comprise a very fragile environment," he said. "The majority of water that enters the Great Lakes basin actually falls directly on the Great Lakes. If there were any diversions of any substantial size from the Great Lakes, it, in all likelihood, would not be replenished, and we would see gradually lowering lake levels - which are already a concern. And at the end of the day, we could lose a major environmental and economic resource."
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