Boundary Waters of Canada and the United States
Source: International Joint Commission
On Wednesday the question was raised "What is the difference between a treaty and a compact?" I did not have a good answer at the time, and having devoted some research effort to the issue since, I still have not found a difference of consequence for most purposes, though there appears to be one of usage in the United States. In the dictionaries I have consulted, including paper ones on my shelves and online ones, there is virtually no difference in definition of the two terms, both being defined as agreements between individuals or states to resolve conflicts.
In the US the word "Compact" seems to be mostly used for agreements between states as in the "Great Lakes--St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact is a legally binding interstate compact among the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The compact details how the states manage the use of the Great Lakes Basin's water supply and builds on the 1985 Great Lakes Charter and its 2001 Annex. The compact is the means by which the states implement the governors' commitments under the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement that also includes the Premiers of Ontario and Quebec." (quoted from Wikipedia entry). Of course there is an international component as two Canadian Provinces are also involved, though neither the US Federal Government nor the Government of Canada appear to be direct parties to the Compact.
Treaty, on the other hand, seems to be used in the US to mean an agreement between the Federal Government and a foreign country (or countries). One example is the longstanding Boundary Waters Treaty between the United States and Great Britain (acting for Canada) signed in 1909 and ratified the next year. Creating an International Joint Commission of the two national states, the treaty is an agreement to provide mechanisms for resolution of disputes over the rather numerous water issues that arise between them. A great number of streams cross the boundary, including two huge ones in the West, the Columbia and the Yukon. The Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River Basin is a large share of the boundary waters and the most important watershed for the economies of the Canada and the United States, and it is part of the zone covered by the treaty. The Compact noted above is apparently a response to the Treaty at the level of states and provinces which have great responsibilities for water issues in their respective countries.
This is a none too satisfactory response to the question raised, and the difference between treaties and compacts is one I shall devote some additional effort to leaning about once I have completed a series of projects which are more pressing at the moment.
