The International Joint Commission will hold public hearings August 15-20 on the final report of its International Lake of the Woods and Rainy River Watershed Task Force.  The Task Force Report to the IJC makes recommendations on how the United States and Canada could work together to better manage water quality, water quantity, and related issues in the international Lake of the Woods and Rainy River watershed.

Our Foundation will be appearing at these hearings and making submissions aimed at improving upon the recommendations contained in the Task Force report.

It is the position of our Foundation that the Task Force Recommendations are a good starting point for building an international watershed framework for the future but by no means do they go far enough. Read our full response here  LOWWSF Submission To IJC Hearings

In summary:

• They provide a launching point for further defining an effective watershed governance model for our basin. 
• We strongly support the Task Force recommendation to create a new IJC International Watershed Initiative Board with pollution authorities for Lake of the Woods. 
• However, this needs to be developed further to define a cohesive and unified governance model for our basin. Effectively we need and orchestra leader and this should be the proposed new International Watershed Board.
• More can and should be done to simplify, unify and integrate existing structures and mechanisms into a cohesive and unitary coordination framework for water management. 

The Foundation will be appearing at these hearings to make submissions to improve upon the recommendations in the Task Force Report. 

The Task Force Report and recommendations for the future of Lake of the Woods can be dowloaded here. 

Please attend and make your voices know -- this is your "one in a hundred years" chance to be heard and make sure that the IJC gets it right for the next 100 years!

The IJC Commissioners will hold hearings at the following dates and locations: