The Great Lakes–Saint Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement is a good-faith agreement among the Governors of the U.S. states of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, New York,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, and the Premiers of the Canadian provinces of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. The agreement details how the States and Provinces will manage the use of the Great Lakes Basin's water supply and builds on the 1985

Great Lakes Charter The Great Lakes Charter is a good-faith agreement among the governors of the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and the premiers of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The c ...

and its 2001 Annex. It was signed on December 13, 2005.

Implementation

The agreement provides a framework for each Great Lakes state and province to enact programs and laws protecting the Basin. The states are meeting the agreement's commitments through the companion Great Lakes Compact. This compact was enacted into law on December 8, 2008, following approval by the state legislatures and the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

, and signature by President George W. Bush. In order to put the agreement into law in Ontario and Quebec, the provinces amended their statutes and regulations. It was enacted by the Quebec National Assembly on June 11, 2009, and by the Ontario Provincial Parliament on June 4, 2007. Ontario's Implementing Regulations were adopted on January 1, 2015, allowing the Agreement to begin coming fully into force as of March 8, 2015."IMPLEMENTATION"
Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Water Resources Regional Body, Retrieved January 25, 2016. The

Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers The Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers is a North American intergovernmental organization led by the governing chief executives of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Québec and the US states of Illinois, Indiana, ...

serves as secretariat to the Governors' and Premiers' Regional Body created by the Agreement and the Governors' Compact Council created by the Compact.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement 2009 in the environment Canada–United States treaties Great Lakes Saint Lawrence Seaway Treaties concluded in 2005 Treaties entered into force in 2009 Water treaties