The Great Lakes hold 20 percent of the world's surface fresh waterThe Assembly this week passed legislation to join a multi-state effort to protect the Great Lakes. The agreement, known as the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact, was created to ensure that surrounding states have access and control over its own fresh water as it becomes a dwindling commodity. The state Senate passed the legislation last year, and it now goes to the governor for approval.

According to the Watertown Daily Times, the compact will ban large-scale diversions from Great Lakes basin, ensuring that its water stays in the region. The agreement will also require member states to develop water conservation programs and coordinate planning across the lakes area.

"This is important for New York because we are at the bottom of the watershed," said Katherine Nadeau, water and natural resources program associate at Environmental Advocates of New York. "Everything that happens upstream affects us, from hydropower to agriculture to tourism."