Governor Jim Doyle sees Washington giving a green light to the Great Lakes compact. Legislation giving congressional consent to the multi-state compact has been introduced, and Doyle is optimistic it will pass. "There really has not been any opposition," Doyle said Thursday, after a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Doyle, part of a D.C. delegation of Great Lakes governors, was also scheduled to meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
As for the timing of a vote, Doyle was "very hopeful, that when they come back after the August recess, that we will have had the hearings, and that they will be prepared to take a vote on it." Once implemented, the Compact will create protections for the Great Lakes, ban long-distance diversions and provide a framework for ensuring sustainable water use in the Great Lakes basin.