assembled by Great Lakes United
updated April 9, 2007
This page provides links to documents related to the "annex" agreements negotiated between 2000 and 2005 and signed in December 2005 by the ten Great Lakes states and provinces to prevent large-scale diversions out of the Great Lakes basin and reduce abuse of water within the basin.
Two agreements were signed: a "compact" among the eight U.S. Great Lakes states and an "agreement" between the two Great Lakes provinces and the the eight states. The compact is currently being ratified in the states, the agreement in the provinces.
Events update
The compact has been ratified in Minnesota and passed elements of the Illinois legislature. The compact is in various stages of less advanced consideration in the other Great Lakes states: Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. A similar "agreement" between the states and provinces is in early stages of consideration in Ontario and Quebec. The current status of the various state bills is listed in largely real time by the Council of Great Lakes Governors at this link..
See also a narrative update of state and some provincial events at this page on Great Lakes United's Web site.
Core annex documents
The "compact" among the eight U.S. Great Lakes states
The "agreement" between the two Great Lakes provinces and the eight Great Lakes states in Englsih
The "agreement" between the two Great Lakes provinces and the eight Great Lakes states en francais
Find the current individual state compact bills at the same link as listed above under "Events update."
Water conservation initiative
This is the first significant product of the agreements. Although the most important elements of the compact and agreement require ratirication by the respective jurisdictions' legislatures, some parts dealing purely with working relationships between the governments went into effect immediately on signing in December 2005. One of these parts was an agreement among the ten jurisdictions to agree on common elements of a good water conservation program that the sprovinces and states are eventually required to put in place.
Comment on the document is being accepted by the Council of Great Lakes Governors on behalf of the ten states and provinces until June 8. To comment on the document, send an email to comments@cglg.org or a letter to Lisa Wojnarowski, Council of Great Lakes Governors, 35 East Wacker Dr., #1850, Chicago, Illinois, 60601.
Great Lakes United will post an analysis of the initiative here by Tuesday, April 17.
The 2004 negotiating documents
This site also stores documents related to the 2004 release of draft "Annex 2001 Implementing Agreements," that year's works-in-progress version of the agreements. These documents are for historical interest only, as they were completely superseded by a new set of documents in the summer of 2005, followed by the rewritten final documents finally signed in late 2005.
2004 Great Lakes Annex documents.