Ten year of work to protect the Great Lakes from large-scale water diversions culminated with the the signature of U.S. President Bush on the Great Lakes compact. The compact, and an accompanying agreement between the eight Great Lakes states and Ontario and Quebec, represent the strongest standards to protect against water diversions, and put in place the stringest conservation measures for large-scale water users.

Some provisions of the agreements, such as how to judge proposals to divert water and how the ten Great Lakes states and provinces will share information, can be implemented immediately.

Implementation of other provisions, most importantly rules to assure that most new withdrawals of water do no significant harm to the basin environment, must await approval by the legislatures of the various jurisdictions.

One of the agreements is a "compact" between just the eight Great Lakes states, and will be enforceable in federal court if approved by all eight state legislatures and the U.S. Congress

The other agreement, many of whose provisions are also found in the eight-state "compact," is between Ontario, Québec, and the eight states. If passed by the two provincial legislatures, the agreement would largely harmonize regulation of water across the international border and increase the role of the provinces in decisions made by the states related to water withdrawals and diversions.