House and Senate leaders announced Monday they've reached a compromise that could lead to passage, by week's end, of historic legislation protecting Michigan's water and the Great Lakes.

The 12-bill package would put Michigan in a compact with seven other Great Lakes states and two Canadian provinces to oversee the use of water in the Great Lakes Basin. The five lakes contain 20 percent of the world's fresh surface water, more than 90 percent of that for the United States.

Key measures in the package also would set standards for water use within the state and make Michigan one of the first compact signers to have its own in-state regulations. All Great Lakes states are required, under the compact, to adopt such water use and conservation rules.

Some had urged the Legislature to pass a bill that let the state join the compact first, and worry later about in-state water regulations.

"I felt all along that it was important for the two to be tied together, hand-in-glove," said Sen. Patricia Birkholz, R-Saugatuck, leader of the Senate effort.

"It feels like an important step has been taken," added Rep. Rebekah Warren, D-Ann Arbor, who worked with Birkholz to resolve the final disagreements between House-passed and Senate-passed versions of the legislation.

They estimated they've invested more than 1,000 hours in the arduous effort to draw up proposals that wouldn't be opposed by the various interest groups -- manufacturers, farmers, business owners and environmentalists.

Representatives from those groups attended Monday's announcement, indicating their support of the agreement.

James Clift, policy director for the Michigan Environmental Council, called it "a good step forward for Michigan, to protect our water."

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