Great Lakes Compact:
Keeping Great Lakes Water in the Great Lakes

We are proud to share that on October 3, 2008, President Bush signed the Great Lakes Compact! This takes us one step closer to realizing permanent protections for the Great Lakes. This is a momentous occasion for the Great Lakes, as the Compact ensures they will be protected from uncontrolled large-scale diversions.

Clean Wisconsin began our fight for the Great Lakes Compact in 2001. At that time, we were one of a small group of environmental organizations in the Midwest working on this issue. Our leadership had the vision and expertise to see that this long policy campaign was necessary and important to gain lasting protections for our Great Lakes. Clean Wisconsin continued to lead efforts in the state on making the Great Lakes Compact a reality.

Clean Wisconsin is overwhelmed by efforts by people just like you who have taken to accomplish the Great Lakes Compact. We are extremely grateful to our supporters for taking action to help pass the Compact. We know your phone calls, emails, letters to the editor, and meetings helped make this win for the environment possible.

While we have protected the Great Lakes through the Compact, our work is far from done. There are rules for water conservation and other provisions to be worked on. As these protections move forward, we will continue to work to implement and enforce the Compact in Wisconsin and the region.

Having the Great Lakes Compact ensures that water will stay in the basin, but Clean Wisconsin is also dedicated to restoring the quality of water in the lakes. Major water quality problems such as polluted runoff, invasive species and algae blooms in the Great Lakes must still be addressed. For more information on this work, please read about our Great Lakes Restoration work.