Editing Great Lakes (section)

==Legislation==
[[File:Great Lakes 1.PNG|thumb|upright=1.3|Various national, state, provincial, and municipal jurisdictions govern the Great Lakes]]
In 1872, a treaty gave access to the St. Lawrence River to the United States and access to Lake Michigan to the [[Canadian Confederation|Dominion of Canada]].<ref>{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=nyGjHG1PaUEC&q=false&pg=PA227 |title = Iron Ore Transport on the Great Lakes: The Development of a Delivery System to Feed American Industry |last = Bowlus |first = W. Bruce |publisher = McFarland |year = 2010 |isbn = 978-0-7864-8655-7 |page = 227, n.35 }}</ref> The International Joint Commission was established in 1909 to help prevent and resolve disputes relating to the use and quality of boundary waters, and to advise Canada and the United States on questions related to water resources. Concerns over diversion of Lake water are of concern to both Americans and Canadians. Some water is diverted through the Chicago River to operate the Illinois Waterway, but the flow is limited by treaty. Possible schemes for [[bottled water]] plants and diversion to dry regions of the continent raise concerns. Under the U.S. "Water Resources Development Act of 1986",<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/tabid/4053/default.aspx |title = Federal Statute on Great Lakes. Water Diversions. Water Resources Development Act |access-date = October 29, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071029172833/http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/tabid/4053/default.aspx |archive-date = October 29, 2007 |publisher = Ohio Department of Natural Resources }}</ref><ref>United States. Water Resources Development Act of 1986. {{uspl|99|662}}, approved November 17, 1986. {{USC|42|1962d-20}}</ref> diversion of water from the Great Lakes Basin requires the approval of all eight Great Lakes governors through the [[Great Lakes Commission]], which rarely occurs. International treaties regulate large diversions.

In 1998, the Canadian company Nova Group won approval from the Province of Ontario to withdraw {{convert|158000000|U.S.gal|m3}} of Lake Superior water annually to ship by tanker to Asian countries. Public outcry forced the company to abandon the plan before it began. Since that time, the eight Great Lakes Governors and the Premiers of Ontario and Quebec have negotiated the Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.cglg.org/projects/water/docs/12-13-05/Great_Lakes-St_Lawrence_River_Basin_Sustainable_Water_Resources_Agreement.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060308043903/http://www.cglg.org/projects/water/docs/12-13-05/Great_Lakes-St_Lawrence_River_Basin_Sustainable_Water_Resources_Agreement.pdf |archive-date = March 8, 2006 |url-status = live |title = Great Lakes—St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement |access-date = February 19, 2011 }}</ref> and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.cglg.org/projects/water/docs/12-13-05/Great_Lakes-St_Lawrence_River_Basin_Water_Resources_Compact.pdf |title = Agreement. Great Lakes-St Lawrence River Basin Water Resources |publisher = cglg.org |date = December 13, 2005 }}</ref> that would prevent most future diversion proposals and all long-distance ones. The agreements strengthen protection against abusive water withdrawal practices within the Great Lakes basin. On December 13, 2005, the Governors and Premiers signed these two agreements, the first of which is between all ten jurisdictions. It is somewhat more detailed and protective, though its legal strength has not yet been tested in court. The second, the [[Great Lakes Compact]], has been approved by the state legislatures of all eight states that border the Great Lakes as well as the U.S. Congress, and was signed into law by President [[George W. Bush]] on October 3, 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.greatlakes.org/Page.aspx?pid=526 |title = Great Lakes Compact |publisher = Alliance for the Great Lakes }}</ref>

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative,<ref>United States. Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly the [[Clean Water Act]]), as amended by the Water Quality Act of 1987 ({{uspl|100|4}}, approved February 4, 1987), and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 ({{uspl|114|113}}, approved December 18, 2015). {{USC|33|1268}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://greatlakesrestoration.us/ |title = Great Lakes Restoration Initiative home page |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160206222143/http://greatlakesrestoration.us/ |archive-date = February 6, 2016 }}</ref> was funded at $475&nbsp;million in the U.S. federal government's Fiscal Year 2011 budget, and $300&nbsp;million in the Fiscal Year 2012 budget. Through the program a coalition of federal agencies is making grants to local and state entities for toxics cleanups, wetlands and coastline restoration projects, and invasive species-related projects. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2019 passed as {{uspl|116|294}} on January 5, 2021, reauthorizing the program through Fiscal Year 2026.