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Updated September 2008

Areas of Interest

State Legislative Activity to Enact the Compact | Water Allocation | Water Quality | Water Security | Meetings and Presentations | Publications 

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Governors in the Great Lakes Region Applaud Congressional Passage of a
Compact to Protect the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin 

• Council of Great Lakes Governors Press Release  Download PDF Version

State Legislative Activity to Enact the Compact

On the Council of Great Lakes Governors website there are links to the bill in each state. click here

• Illinois - Public Act 095-0238
• Indiana - Senate Enrolled Act No. 45
• Michigan - Public Act 190 of 2008
• Minnesota - HF 110 and SF 38
• New York - A07266 and S4324
• Ohio - HB 416
• Pennsylvania - Act No. 43
• Wisconsin - 2007 Wisconsin Act 227

Water Allocation

• Does the Water Belong to Farmers or the Citites?
  Denver Post, March 7, 2007.
  Farmers claim they must irrigate crops in dry times but others point out the long-term damages to the land as aquifers are sucked dry for irrigation.
• Effort to Conserve Water Continues.
  Concord Monitor, October 16, 2006.
  New Hampshire's population is expected to increase 25 percent by 2025, mostly in the southeast, and that could test the region's water resources, experts said.
• Water Crisis Demands Attention..LJWord.com, October 15, 2006.
  Beneath the soil of landlocked Kansas lies a vast, life-sustaining source of water called the High Plains aquifer
• Platte River EIS Keeps Conflicting Interests Out of Courtroom. 
  Irrigation and wildlife needs addressed in plan affecting Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming.
• Eastern States Reassessing Water Management Options 
  Faced with drought and growing competition for water both within and outside their boundaries, several eastern states are rethinking the way they manage water use.
• Arizona Using Underground Water Storage 
  Arizona is using an innovative groundwater storage law to bank surface water for drought insurance.

Water Quality

• Ritter to Sign Water Quality Bill, Rocky Mountain News, March 9, 2007
• New Jersey Adopts Tough New Stormwater Rules The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has adopted new stormwater rules that will establish a 300-foot setback requirement for stormwater discharges into protected streams.

Water Security

• Protecting Water System Security Information -- 2006 Update, March 2007, Cathy Atkins
• NCSL Report Examines Water Security Information Requirements  Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, almost every state has considered amendments to its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to exempt security information related to drinking water systems from public disclosure under a FOIA request.

Meetings and Presentations

• Water Rights and Wrongs: Resolving Water Disputes Without Litigation -- presentation by George William Sherk
  NCSL Fall Forum, December 2003
• Incentive-Based Options for Land Conservation in the Upper Mississippi river Basin -- presentation by Larry Morandi and Cheryl Runyon.

NOTE: NCSL provides links to other Web sites from time to time for information purposes only. Providing these links does not necessarily indicate NCSL's support or endorsement of the site.

  The Natural Resources