Legislation that would impose a near-total ban on diverting water from the Great Lakes to other regions passed the House last week, all but ensuring that the measure will reach President Bush's desk.

The Great Lakes compact passed by a vote of 390-25.

Legislators and advocates who started work on the compact a decade ago were surprised to see it move through Congress so quickly. The long-sought agreement cleared only two state legislatures -- Minnesota and Illinois -- in the first two years after it was negotiated but then sped through the remaining six Great Lakes legislatures earlier this year. It passed the Senate unanimously in August. The Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario have also endorsed a binding agreement that mirrors the compact.

"It was a struggle," said Wisconsin state Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Allouez, an early proponent. In Wisconsin, some legislators worried about ceding control over their water. In Ohio, fears raised by the compact led to a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would ban government seizures of private water rights.