By EMILY UDELL

Associated Press Writer

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Mitch Daniels has signed a measure that allows Indiana to join a regional compact intended to prevent water-hungry states from tapping into the Great Lakes.

The General Assembly had approved the bill that protects water from being siphoned out of the Great Lakes watershed to drought-stricken states or areas that need water to continue their growth.

“Indiana is the first state to reach this point and we ought to take some satisfaction in that,” said Daniels at a Wednesday press conference where he signed the bill.

Daniels said Indiana was the first among the eight states bordering the five Great Lakes to sign the measure into law. Indiana encompasses parts of both the Lake Michigan and Lake Erie watersheds.

“Obviously people in every state worked hard on this, but I don’t think anyone worked harder at this than Hoosiers,” Daniels said after signing the bill.

It was the first bill signed during Indiana’s 2008 legislative session.

“We have a long-term interest in preserving the quality and quantity of water in Lake Michigan,” said Tom Anderson, executive director of the Save the Dunes Council. “We know this agreement is a step toward the sustainable use of Great Lakes water.”

The compact instructs the Great Lakes states to regulate water use and adopt conservation plans — rules that could affect everything from sewage treatment to auto manufacturing.

“We set a high bar for the rest of the nation,” Jim Flannery, environmental manager for ArcelorMittal, which owns a steel manufacturing plant on Lake Michigan.

“It was a unique and precedent-setting agreement with the collaboration of industry representatives and environmental advocates.”

After all the affected states enact it, Congress must ratify it.

Minnesota and Illinois have also ratified the agreement.

The Ohio House signed off on a version of the compact on Tuesday and sent it to the Senate, which is set to begin hearings on its own version of the agreement. Some Ohio Senate leaders said they are concerned that the wording of the bill opens up private property all across northern Ohio to government control.

The Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec have approved separate but similar agreements.

Posted 2/21/2008