GARY | Gov. Mitch Daniels' administration plans on presenting a comprehensive water management plan to the state Legislature next year.

The plan was revealed in a Wednesday night panel discussion on environmental and economic development at the Marquette Park Pavilion in Gary.

"I am convinced that water resources planning is something every state and every community will be dealing with," Kari Evans, environmental policy director to Daniels, told a crowd of about 100 people.

The state's plans arose out of a December 2005 agreement between the executive branches of eight American states and two Canadian provinces that border one or more of the Great Lakes.

The agreement dealt primarily with trying to limit the diversion of water from the five lakes to areas outside the region.

For the agreement to be legal, it has to be approved by the legislatures of the eight states and the two provinces. Evans said the agreement's goals include establishing thresholds for diversions of Great Lakes' water and formulating conservation and efficiency standards.

She said a regional body consisting of representatives of the 10 governments is formulating "basic goals" for the conservation and efficiency standards, but states will tailor their plans to local needs and feedback.

Evans said the Daniels administration plans on figuring out which companies and communities in Indiana already have implemented effective water conservation measures. The administration then wants to persuade state legislators to pass laws that essentially will require other companies and communities to conserve water in a similar fashion.

"We need to encourage more conservation and efficiency measures," she said.

Evans was one of three speakers at the seminar sponsored by The Northwest Indiana Forum, a nonprofit regional economic development organization that serves Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties. The other two were Tom Keilman of BP's Whiting office and Tim Gropp, the executive director of the Greater LaPorte Economic Development Corp.