A vocal, engaged and committed crowd of 200 citizens concerned about toxic and nuisance algae in Lake of the Woods gathered at the Clarion Hotel in Kenora, Aug. 15, 2018 to learn what is being done to address the problem.
Many attendees, led by former Prime Minister John Turner, voiced strongly a demand for Canada to “get on with it” and take action immediately to combat algae blooms jointly with Minnesota, in its plan to cut phosphorus by 18.4%.
Following a presentation from the International Rainy – Lake of the Woods Watershed Board in Washington D.C., the International Joint Commission endorsed and submitted the Board’s recommendations for immediate interim phosphorus reductions in Lake of the Woods to the Governments of Canada and the United States.
Read the full June 13, 2018 IJC Press Release on "Immediate Interim Phosphorus Targets Recommended for Lake of the Woods"
Background Document: IJC Letter to Governments
The science team from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) was back on the lake in September for their fall intensive sampling, rounding out their work for the entire summer. The ECCC science program aims to develop a framework to assess and predict the ecological response of the lake (e.g., algae blooms) to potential nutrient load reductions.
Ongoing water quality and other data were collected from 30 stations across the lake. Issue-specific work was also undertaken to better characterize: nutrients coming from the lake bottom, algae types and toxins.
Citizen science, partnerships and the valuable role of volunteer organizations in lake stewardship, nutrient reduction and aquatic invasive species prevention was the focus of a one-day workshop for lake associations, held by the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation, September 11 at Sunny Cove camp on the shores of Rainy Lake. The Foundation’s watershed coordination program received a booster shot in the arm from the Lake Winnipeg Basin Program of Environment and Climate Change Canada.
The Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation will receive approximately $250,000 over the next four years to help develop its watershed coordination program to create knowledge sharing networks, increase public engagement and collaboration, and build capacity for organizations and groups working on nutrient reduction for the Lake of the Woods Basin.
The Foundation presented Kat Rühland, Kevin Peterson and Gail Faveri each with the Kallemeyn Award, recognizing their outstanding professional achievements and contributions to research and resource management in the Rainy-Lake of the Woods basin.
For the first time, the selection committee decided to make more than one award this year, recognizing excellence in different aspects of the Kallemeyn Award criteria. The committee decided that a “shoot out” like the end of the Canada-USA Women’s Hockey Olympic Goal medal game was not the way to settle a tie!
The Foundation presented the Gerry Wilson Stewardship Award to the White Iron Chain of Lakes Association (WICOLA) for their leadership in civic engagement, outreach, research and partnerships.
Teresa Sagen, WICOLA president, accepted the award on behalf of the Association and all its members who have worked for over 25 years to develop and conduct programs in partnership with Minnesota’s natural resource agencies to fill gaps in monitoring and science and engage hundreds of volunteers in work to protect the headwaters in the Rainy-Lake of the Woods watershed.
The pdf Proceeedings Report of the 2018 International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum(5.73 MB) is now available.
Lake of the Woods and its watershed went under the microscope at the 2018 International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum, March 7-8 at the Rainy River Community College in International Falls, Minnesota. The auditorium was jam-packed with close to 170 researchers, resource managers and policy makers representing 72 organizations – a record attendance!