Great Lakes Commission Great Lakes Commission The Great Lakes Commission is a United States interstate agency established in 1955 through the Great Lakes Basin Compact, in order to "promote the orderly, integrated and comprehensive development, use and conservation of the water resources of the Great Lakes Basin," which includes the Saint Lawrence River. The Great Lakes Commission provides policy development, coordination, and advocacy on issues of regional concern, as well as communication and research services. The eight member states are Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec are associate members. There is a
Great Lakes Waterway lake freighters to travel from the system's saltwater outlet to its far interior. The Waterway has larger locks and deeper drafts than the lower Seaway, limiting large freighters to the four lakes upstream of the Welland Canal and Lake Ontario and similarly restricting passage beyond the canal by larger ocean vessels. The two waterways are often jointly and simply referred to as the "St. Lawrence Seaway", since the Great Lakes, together with the St. Lawrence River, comprise a single navigable body of freshwater linking the Atlantic Ocean to the continental interior. Shipping channels separate upbound traffic from downbound traffic. The