First Welland Canal 1818, when the flow was especially low, Merritt pursued the idea of bringing water to his mills from the Welland River. On a bigger scale, the Erie Canal, dug from the Hudson River through northern New York, was about to reach Lake Erie. The impending completion meant the cargo from upper Great Lakes was about to head down the canal and Hudson River to New York City, bypassing its previous destination, Montreal. At the time, a considerable rivalry existed between Montreal and New York for cargo headed to Europe via ocean-going vessels. All of these factors contributed to the construction
Great Lakes Charter an Annex to the Great Lakes Charter. This led to the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement of 2005 and the Great Lakes Compact which became effective in 2008. The Council of Great Lakes Governors serves as secretariat to the Governors' and Premiers' Regional Body created by the Agreement and the Governors' Compact Council created by the Compact. Great Lakes Charter The Great Lakes Charter is a good-faith agreement among the Governors of the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and the Premiers of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and