The effort for a binationally-coordinated water quality and research effort on Lake of the Woods got a boost from the province this month, putting Ontario in the drivers seat to drive projects on the lake.  In only four years, the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation has made great strides in bringing nearly 50 agencies - from Canada, the U.S., Manitoba and Ontario - surrounding the basin together to coordinate efforts to sustain or improve the lake's water, according to executive director Todd Sellers.

In November, Mayor Len Compton, along with former Prime Minister John Turner, met with Premier Dalton McGuinty to encourage the province to get behind the foundation's push for an International Joint Commission reference for a water pollution board on Lake of the Woods.

This month, McGuinty forwarded a letter to the federal minister of foreign affairs supporting the reference recommendation and Sellers said attention is starting to be paid.

"I think the fact that Ontario is now stating clearly that they recognize (the lake's) importance and are going to be developing sort of a provincial strategy around the lake - one element of that is a working agreement between all the agencies and the other element is to have formal international coordination through the (commission) - means that Ontario is now sitting up and paying attention to the lake and we look for more of it in the future," he said. "That's a tremendous win."

The joint commission, acting on the 100-year-old Boundary Waters Treaty between Canada and the U.S., coordinates efforts to manage cross-border waters. The letter from the province follows the recommendation of a former Minnesota pollution commissioner calling for both federal governments to direct the commission to stretch the mandate of the Rainy River pollution board to include Lake of the Woods, which Sellers agreed would be the most efficient way to coordinate efforts on the lake.

In the last month, a working agreement initiative between the lake's agencies began to take shape and support for an international commission reference has been widespread, with communities on all shores appealing to governments to support the recommendation, Sellers said. He noted Minnesota is expected to table a bill to petition its federal government this winter.

The water sustainability foundation will release a two-year "state of the basin study" at a water quality forum in International Falls, Minnesota in March, which will outline everything known about the lake through previous studies and provide future researchers a baseline to work from.

Researchers from Trent University have also teamed up with researchers from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota to work with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment studying the phosphorus levels and water quality of the lake. The study is expected to be completed around two years from now.

"That will be important because it will give you the first piece of information to start setting what the targets should be for the lake in order to protect the existing water quality or, indeed, improve it," Sellers said, noting he hopes the partnership will spark more students to study the lake.

Despite public concerns of extended, late summer algae, Sellers said the lake is ahead of the curve and isn't looking at the pollution crisis facing Lake Winnipeg and as long as the "jurisdictional complexity" is overcome, it can be sustained. "I think we've got a really good lake that has good water quality," he said. "We still have a tremendous lake with really good water quality that supports recreation and fishing and tourism and what we have is an opportunity now to make sure that we sustain that water quality and not lose it by lack of attention."