​Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Compact and Agreement

In 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 Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact (Compact), an interstate compact subsequently enacted into law in each of the eight states and consented to by Congress in 2008. The Agreement and Compact detail how the States and Provinces will manage and protect the waters and water dependent natural resources of the Great Lakes Basin, and two entities provide governance:

Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Council (Compact Council)

Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin Regional Body

As required by the Compact, Pennsylvania completed a 2008 baseline of existing water withdrawals, consumptive uses, and diversions. Additionally, an inventory is maintained and annual reporting is conducted of water withdrawals, consumptive uses, and diversions. All new diversions are prohibited with minor exceptions for public water supply purposes in projects that meet the standards of the Compact and involve straddling communities, straddling counties, and interbasin diversions. All proposed diversions and consumptive uses exceeding a threshold must undergo a Regional Review process.

Water Resources Inventory and Reporting

Pennsylvania’s Great Lakes inventory of water users and reported quantities are available at this link.

Water Withdrawal, Consumptive Use, and Diversion Baseline

The Department of Environmental Protection (Department) has established a ''baseline'' of existing withdrawals, consumptive uses and/or diversions of Great Lakes Basin water. The Department has prepared a list of baseline amounts of affected facilities or systems as of December 2008. This information reflects the data related to those facilities or systems that are currently on record with the Department.

The Department published the proposed list in the Pennsylvania Bulletin at 39 Pa.B. 5985 (October 10, 2009), announcing a 30-day public comment period requesting comment on the establishment of the baseline by November 9, 2009. No comments were received through the public comment period. In addition to the public comment period, the Department requested information from individual water users through a direct mailing. Based on the responses received from the mailing, the list of water users and baseline values were adjusted.

The baseline amount assigned to each Great Lakes Basin water user will be used to determine what is a new or increased withdrawal, consumptive use, or diversion of Great Lakes Basin water in the future.

Click here to view the final Baseline List as a PDF file. (Revised 12/23/2009)

Click here to view the Comment and Response document as a PDF file.

This information was collected under Act 43 of 2008 and signed on July 4, 2008, known as the Great Lakes—St.Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact (Compact) (32 P.S. §§ 817.21—817.30). The Compact prohibits all new or increased diversions, with some exceptions for public water suppliers in communities or counties that straddle the boundary of the Great Lakes Basin. The Compact also provides for each Great Lakes state to establish a program no later than 2013 for the management and regulation of new or increased withdrawals and consumptive uses within the Great Lakes—St. Lawrence River Basin. With the passage of the Compact by each of the 8 Great Lakes states and the consent of the United States Congress, the new Interstate Compact became effective on December 8, 2008.

More information may be obtained on the web:

Act 43: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/index.cfm Search for HB 1705 under 2007-2008 Legislative Session or directly at:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/BillInfo.cfm?syear=2007&sind=0&body=H&type=B&bn=1705

Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact and Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement:
http://cglg.org/projects/water/CompactImplementation.asp

Consumptive Use (USGS)

Consumptive Use (Great Lakes Commission)

Great Lakes Compact Pennsylvania Fact Sheet (PDF)

Comments and questions concerning the final baseline should be directed to Timothy Bruno, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, 301 Peninsula Drive, Suite 4, Erie, PA 16505 (814)-835-1477, e-mail at tibruno@pa.gov.

PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD – Draft 2024 Pennsylvania Great Lakes Water Management Program Five Year Report (2019-2024)

This notice is published under the GREAT LAKES - ST. LAWRENCE RIVER BASIN SUSTAINABLE WATER RESOURCES COMPACT (Compact), 32 P.S. § 817.22, Article 6, relating to public participation being conducted by the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Council (Compact Council) and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Sustainable Water Resources Regional Body (Regional Body) regarding the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s submittal of information on the Pennsylvania Great Lakes Water Management Program and opportunity for comment.

Under the Compact Sections 3.4, 4.1-11, and 4.13 and companion Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Sustainable Water Resources Agreement (Agreement), Articles 200, 201, 206-208, 300, 301, and 304, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (Department) submitted draft questionnaire responses to the Compact Council and Regional Body for use in the “every five-year report” that demonstrates compliance with Compact and Agreement provisions.

The draft report can be viewed here: 2024 Pennsylvania Great Lakes Water Management Program Five Year Report (2019-2024).

Interested persons may submit written comments on this draft 2024 Pennsylvania Great Lakes Water Management Program through Monday, October 14, 2024. Commentators are encouraged to submit comments using the Department’s online eComment tool at www.ahs.dep.pa.gov/eComment. Alternatively, written comments can be submitted by email to ecomment@pa.gov or by mail to the Department of Environmental Protection, Policy Office, 400 Market Street, P.O. Box 2063, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2063. All comments, including comments submitted by electronic mail must include the originator’s name and address. Comments submitted by facsimile will not be accepted.

Persons in need of accommodations as provided for in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 should contact Timothy Bruno at (717) 798-6001 or through the Pennsylvania AT&T Relay Service at (800) 654-5984 (TTD) to discuss how the Department may accommodate their needs.