TRAVERSE CITY — The U.S. and Canada have done well at preventing Great Lakes water from being overused or raided by outsiders but should take additional steps to strengthen their legal protection against future grabs, an advisory organization said Tuesday.

 

A compact between the region's eight states, and similar legislation approved by the provinces of Ontario and Quebec in the past decade, banned nearly all diversions of water outside their geological boundary and set conservation requirements for users within the region. Since then, no exports have been approved that would have "significant negative impacts on the ecological integrity of the Great Lakes," said a report by the International Joint Commission, which advises both nations on issues affecting shared waterways.

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