President George Bush signed the Great Lakes Compact Friday, the final step in an effort to form a coalition among the Great Lakes states to protect the world's largest freshwater source.
The signing of this bill puts into law the agreement among the eight states and two Canadian provinces surrounding the Great Lakes to regulate the use the lakes' water and protect it from long distance diversions.
After each state passed the compact individually, it moved to Congress in June, where it was passed by the U.S. Senate in August and the U.S. House of Representatives last month.
Gov. Jim Doyle said in a statement Bush's signing of the compact gives the Great Lakes states the legal framework to protect the lakes, which are economically important to Wisconsin.
The signing of the Compact ... is the culmination of years of hard work among eight Great Lakes states and two Canadian provinces,"" Doyle said. ""Together, we now have the ability to prevent long-range diversions of our water.""
According to Emily Green, director of the Sierra Club's Great Lakes Program, now that the compact is officially approved, the work of actually implementing it remains, as well as adopting a restoration strategy for the Great Lakes.
Karen Etter Hale, executive secretary for the Madison Audubon Society, said the compact, which has been under debate for roughly 10 years, took a long time to pass because it was a very detailed bill, but the citizens of Wisconsin and other Great Lakes states and provinces helped move it along.
""Because Wisconsin is at the headwaters of the Great Lakes, I think we have an extra responsibility to take care of them,"" she said.
