Michigan signs Great Lakes compact

As states around the union experience water shortages and look to the Great Lakes to solve their problems, the eight Great Lakes states and two Canadian provinces are fighting to have control over water diversions and regulate water usage. Governor Granholm signed the historic Great Lakes Compact and two additional water bills last week, moving the legislation to the U.S. Congress.

According to excerpts from the story:

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Michigan has become the last of the eight Great Lakes states to join a compact designed to protect the region’s water.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed legislation approving the compact during a ceremony Wednesday at Oval Beach in the Lake Michigan town of Saugatuck. A day earlier, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell announced he had signed a ratification bill.
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle signed one in May.

The agreement outlaws diversions of Great Lakes water from their natural drainage basin with rare exceptions, while requiring the states to regulate their own large-scale water use.

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