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• Decision Support Information

INTRODUCTION

On December 13, 2005, the Great Lakes Governors and Premiers signed the Great Lakes—St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement (Agreement) and the Governors endorsed the companion interstate Great Lakes—St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact (Compact). The agreements include historic protections for the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin, and provide a guide for follow-through work to ensure their efficacy.

One of the most fundamental requirements that all jurisdictions must meet is ensuring that new or increased water uses will not result in significant individual or cumulative adverse impacts. Similarly, the jurisdictions will work collaboratively with one another to assess cumulative impacts and implement adaptive management measures to deal with them.

This resource kit provides water managers with practical information for assessing individual and cumulative impacts of water uses in order to meet these commitments in the Agreement and Compact as well as broader resource management goals.