IV
108TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 199
Recognizing and affirming the efforts of the Great Lakes Governors and
Premiers in developing a common standard for decisions relating to
withdrawal of water from the Great Lakes and urging that management
authority over the Great Lakes should remain vested with the Governors
and Premiers.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 22, 2003
Mr. ROGERS of Michigan (for himself, Mr. QUINN, Mr. UPTON, Mrs. MILLER
of Michigan, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. CAMP, and Mr. REY-
NOLDS) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred
to the Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Recognizing and affirming the efforts of the Great Lakes
Governors and Premiers in developing a common stand-
ard for decisions relating to withdrawal of water from
the Great Lakes and urging that management authority
over the Great Lakes should remain vested with the
Governors and Premiers.
Whereas the water resources of the Great Lakes Basin are
precious public natural resources, shared and held in
trust by the Great Lakes States of Illinois, Indiana,
Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and
Wisconsin, and by the Canadian Provinces of Ontario
and Quebec;
•HCON 199 IH
Whereas authority over the Great Lakes is vested in the Gov-
ernors of the Great Lakes States by the Water Resources
Development Act of 1986 (Public Law 99–662);
Whereas section 1109(b)(2) of the Water Resources Develop-
ment Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 1962d–20(b)(2)) encour-
ages the Great Lakes States, in consultation with the Ca-
nadian Provinces of Ontario and Quebec, to develop and
implement a mechanism that provides a common con-
servation standard embodying the principles of water con-
servation and resource improvement for making decisions
concerning the withdrawal and use of water from the
Great Lakes Basin;
Whereas section 1109(d) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1962d–
20(d)) requires the approval of the Governor of each of
the Great Lakes States prior to the diversion or export
of Great Lakes water;
Whereas the Great Lakes Charter of 1985 is a voluntary
international agreement that provides the procedural
framework for prior notice and consultation by the Great
Lakes States and the Canadian Provinces of Ontario and
Quebec concerning the withdrawal of water from the
Great Lakes Basin;
Whereas the Council of Great Lakes Governors and Premiers
has drafted amendments to the Great Lakes Charter of
1985, known as ‘‘Annex 2001’’;
Whereas one of the primary purposes of of Annex 2001 is to
strengthen the authority of Great Lakes Governors and
Premiers to make decisions concerning proposals to di-
vert or export Great Lakes water by establishing a com-
mon conservation standard by which such decisions will
be made; and
•HCON 199 IH
Whereas the final commitments proposed in Annex 2001 to
affirm in-basin authority by way of enacting a basin-
States compact and a cross-border accord with the Prov-
inces of Ontario and Quebec will be presented to the Con-
gress for final approval: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That Congress—
(1) recognizes and affirms the efforts of the
Great Lakes Governors and Premiers in developing
a common standard for decisions relating to the
withdrawal of water from the Great Lakes that lead
to improvement of this binational resource; and
(2) urges that the management authority over
the waters of the Great Lakes should remain vested
with the Governors and Premiers of the eight Great
Lakes States and two Great Lakes Provinces that
share stewardship over this vast and valuable nat-
ural resource.
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