The Great Lakes, located in the northeastern part of the U.S., represent five massive bodies of water holding one-fifth of the world’s surface water. Comprised of Lake Superior (the largest), Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Ontario, these lakes (with the addition of Lake St. Clair and the St. Lawrence River as their drainage basin) serve the water needs of eight U.S. states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York) and several Canadian provinces (Ontario and Quebec), all of whom are more or less unwilling to share this vast resource with the lower 48 states, many of which are experiencing either chronic or sudden, inexplicable drought as a result of global warming.
Recent action to protect these lakes began on December 13, 2005, when governors from the various states and Canadian premiers from associated provinces signed agreements at the Council of Great Lakes Governors’ (CGLG) Leadership Summit. These agreements — The Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement and The Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact (otherwise known as The Great Lakes Water Compact, or simply the Compact) — have since morphed into a complex suite of rules and regulations governing the disposition and export of Great Lakes water, which becomes increasingly more precious as the Southwest grows drier and typically wet regions like the Southeast become parched.
The Great Lakes, located in the northeastern part of the U.S., represent five massive bodies of water holding one-fifth of the world’s surface water. Comprised of Lake Superior (the largest), Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Ontario, these lakes (with the addition of Lake St. Clair and the St. Lawrence River as their drainage basin) serve the water needs of eight U.S. states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York) and several Canadian provinces (Ontario and Quebec), all of whom are more or less unwilling to share this vast resource with the lower 48 states, many of which are experiencing either chronic or sudden, inexplicable drought as a result of global warming.
Recent action to protect these lakes began on December 13, 2005, when governors from the various states and Canadian premiers from associated provinces signed agreements at the Council of Great Lakes Governors’ (CGLG) Leadership Summit. These agreements — The Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement and The Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact (otherwise known as The Great Lakes Water Compact, or simply the Compact) — have since morphed into a complex suite of rules and regulations governing the disposition and export of Great Lakes water, which becomes increasingly more precious as the Southwest grows drier and typically wet regions like the Southeast become parched.
The Great Lakes, located in the northeastern part of the U.S., represent five massive bodies of water holding one-fifth of the world’s surface water. Comprised of Lake Superior (the largest), Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Ontario, these lakes (with the addition of Lake St. Clair and the St. Lawrence River as their drainage basin) serve the water needs of eight U.S. states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York) and several Canadian provinces (Ontario and Quebec), all of whom are more or less unwilling to share this vast resource with the lower 48 states, many of which are experiencing either chronic or sudden, inexplicable drought as a result of global warming.
Recent action to protect these lakes began on December 13, 2005, when governors from the various states and Canadian premiers from associated provinces signed agreements at the Council of Great Lakes Governors’ (CGLG) Leadership Summit. These agreements — The Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement and The Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact (otherwise known as The Great Lakes Water Compact, or simply the Compact) — have since morphed into a complex suite of rules and regulations governing the disposition and export of Great Lakes water, which becomes increasingly more precious as the Southwest grows drier and typically wet regions like the Southeast become parched.
