Great Lakes compact at the center of great debate

…A new multistate agreement working its way through state legislatures builds a legal wall around the largest source of fresh water in the world. The deal would ensure that no Great Lakes water is ever shipped outside the region

“This is not a water grab,” says Sam Speck, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. “It’s a commitment to protect a resource in the face of climate change and other challenges.”

The Great Lakes contain nine-tenths of the nation’s fresh water and supply drinking water to 30 million people in Chicago, Toronto, Buffalo and elsewhere. The lakes are an economic engine and the cultural centerpiece for much of the upper Midwest. But the fragile ecology of the lakes has suffered from pollution, invasive species of fish and the diversion of water to support Chicago and other cities.

The new agreement would control who can use the water and how much.

USA Today