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Nature Conservancy Praises PA on Historic Water Management Agreement

Gov. Rendell Signs Great Lakes Compact

HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA — July 8, 2008 — The Nature Conservancy today congratulated Pennsylvania on its historic action to protect one of the state’s greatest resources – Lake Erie.

The Great Lakes Compact, signed by Gov. Rendell, establishes the first comprehensive water management and protection program for the Great Lakes Basin. It ensures that control of lake water remains within the Great Lakes Basin and that water use protections are in place within each of the eight Great Lakes states and two Canadian provinces.

The Conservancy has been a strong proponent of legislation to preserve the Great Lakes and has worked across the basin to ensure drinking water and the diversity of lake species are protected.

“The compact provides the most comprehensive water management plans ever passed for the Great Lakes, which contain one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water and provide drinking water for over 40 million people,” said Bill Kunze, Pennsylvania State Director for the Nature Conservancy.

After adoption of the compact by each of the eight states in the basin, the agreement must go to Congress to ratify and become law.

“The Great Lakes contain over 350 species of fish and attract millions in annual commercial and recreational fishing,” Kunze explained. “When Congress ratifies the compact, the region’s water resources, tourism and  fish industries will  be protected by establishing principles for determining how much water can be extracted for business and other uses while empowering individual states to establish their own rules that comply with the extraction guidelines.”

The Great Lakes Compact commits the states and two Canadian provinces to a common standard for managing proposed water withdrawals and diversions from within the Great Lakes Basin.

According to The Nature Conservancy, Lake Erie is a globally significant migratory bird stopover site and generates nearly $9 billion annually in tourism and fishing. The Conservancy has been working to improve the health of major tributaries to the lake and in land management policies across the Great Lakes Basin protect the long-term health the lakes.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.