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8 Onboard
All Great Lakes States OK Water Compact
All eight states bordering the Great Lakes have now
approved an agreement that would ban most diversions of water from the
lakes.
The last two states to formally ratify the deal were
Pennsylvania and Michigan, in the second week of July. The other states
that signed off on the Great Lakes Water Resources Compact are Ohio,
Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New York and Wisconsin.
Approval from Congress and the White House is still
needed for the agreement to become law. On the Canadian side, a nearly
identical water protection document has been adopted by the provinces
of Quebec and Ontario.
It’s taken about two years for the deal to make its way
through the states’ legislatures. The move to prohibit water
withdrawals from the Great Lakes’ basin was prompted by concern that
dry parts of the country, or foreign nations, may try to tap into the
Great Lakes.
Bills to ratify the agreement in Congress soon will be
introduced, according to David Naftzger, executive director of the
Council of Great Lakes Governors. The council spent four years working
on the agreement.
Presidential candidates Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain have both pledged their support.
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