Bush Signs Great Lakes Compact Covering 8 States, 2 Canadian Provinces

Traverse City, MI (AHN) - U.S. President George W. Bush has ratified the Great Lakes Compact that would protect the waters of the Great Lakes basin from large scale diversions.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle lauded the presidential approval as an "historic accomplishment" to preserve the world's biggest freshwater resource.

"Today we mark a historic accomplishment for our region's greatest natural resource. After years of negotiating and building support for this interstate compact, we now have a defined legal framework to protect the waters that define us," Doyle said in a statement.

The compact was nearly 10 years in the making, involving the Great Lakes states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and two provinces of Canada, Ontario and Quebec.

After five years of discussions, governors met in Milwaukee in late 2005 and agreed on a new set of rules for the Great Lakes. Each state worked on securing approval from their respective legislatures, which took two years.