Legislation is passed to protect Great Lakes

ALBANY — The state Assembly has passed legislation to join a multistate effort to protect the world's largest freshwater surface, the Great Lakes.

The agreement, formally known as the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact, requires member states to develop water conservation programs and coordinate planning across the Great Lakes region.

"This is a huge win for all of us," said Katherine Nadeau, water and natural resources program associate at Environmental Advocates of New York. "The compact will ban large-scale diversions from the basin. It will keep water here and give New York State a say in regional water use."

Highlights of the compact include:

■ Creating a regional water resources council of the member states' governors to plan and prioritize water use and conservation.

■ Establishing a water resource inventory for each member state within five years.

■ Establishing decision-making standards regarding proposed withdrawals and consumption uses.

■ Requiring anyone seeking to withdraw 100,000 gallons or more of water per day within an average 30-day period to register such withdrawals.

■ Requiring states to manage and regulate all new or increased withdrawals or consumption uses, including a prohibition on new or increased diversions outside the basin.

■ Establishing water conservation and efficient-use programs and conducting periodic assessments of the cumulative impact from water losses.

New York has more than 750 miles of shoreline on lakes Erie and Ontario and the Niagara and St. Lawrence rivers. The Great Lakes basin contains 20 percent of the available surface fresh water in the world.

The state Senate passed its version of the legislation Feb. 4. The measure now goes to Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer, who previously urged both houses to pass it, for his signature.

"This is important for New York because we are at the bottom of the watershed," Ms. Nadeau said. "Everything that happens upstream affects us, from hydropower to agriculture to tourism."

Sean Mahar, director of government relations for Audubon, New York, agreed.

"Water is a precious commodity," Mr. Mahar said. "It's also a big economic issue. The more we keep water here, the more attractive it will make New York to businesses and residents."

Minnesota and Illinois already have ratified the compact. Besides New York, other member states include Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

"This is one of the biggest water regulatory bills nationwide," Mr. Mahar said. "Momentum has been building, with lots of positive developments in other states."

In Canada, the compact also is on track in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

Derek Stack, executive director of Great Lakes United, an international coalition seeking to protect the basin, explained that the implementation process for the agreement is procedurally different in Canada.

"The provincial ministries need the authority to regulate," Mr. Stack said. Rather than passing various legislative bodies as in the U.S., regulations need to be written for various provincial agencies. He predicted that Ontario will have come on board "within the next couple of years," and is "not expecting any problems" in Quebec.

If the compact becomes law in the remaining American member states, it goes to Congress for its approval and implementation. Mr. Mahar hopes this happens by 2010, when the next national census will take place. With Great Lakes basin states predicted to lose Congressional seats to southwestern states, Mahar said it is important to take action before the region "loses voice" in Congress.