President Bush signed the Great Lakes Compact Friday, the final step in an effort to form a coalition among the Great Lakes states to protect the world’s largest freshwater source.

The signing of this bill puts into law the agreement among the eight states and two Canadian provinces surrounding the Great Lakes to regulate the use the lakes’ water.

After each state passed the compact individually, it headed to Congress in June, where the U.S. Senate passed it in August, and the U.S. House of Representatives passed it last month.

Gov. Jim Doyle said in a statement Bush’s signing of the compact gives the Great Lakes states the legal framework to protect the lakes, which are economically important to Wisconsin.

“The signing of the Compact today is the culmination of years of hard work among eight Great Lakes states and two Canadian provinces. Together, we now have the ability to prevent long-range diversions of our water,” Doyle said.