The historic compact is designed to reserve all of the water in the Great Lakes for the eight states and two Canadian provinces surrounding them.

However, there's more to it than that. The agreement is linked to several additional House and Senate bills to regulate water usage within the state. There's still disagreement over legislative versions of those proposed rules, the Detroit News said Thursday.

The Michigan House approved the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact by a 108-0 vote, with two members absent. That followed unanimous 38-0 Senate approval. It now goes to Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

A majority of the Great Lakes states have now approved the compact, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and New York. Once it is ratified in the remaining states -- Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania -- it must be ratified by Congress.