Put a plan in place — A sustainability plan for the Rainy-Lake of the Woods Basin. A plan with internationally-agreed objectives, targets and actions needed. An international framework to oversee the plan.
Sounds reasonable, right? We been working towards this goal and many of the pieces are now in place.
When the IJC's International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board launched in 2013, one of its first tasks was to develop a priority list of projects to support the board's new water quality mandate for Lake of the Woods. In 2015, the IJC Lake of the Woods Water Quality Plan of Study proposed 32 projects, the key pillars of the sustainability plan, with international strategies for:
- Nutrient management to combat harmful algal blooms
- Aquatic Invasive Species prevention and response
- Surface and Groundwater contamination risk mitigation
- Systematic monitoring across the basin
While the Water Quality Plan of Study did not receive the funding support to be fully implemented, over the ensuing decade, various projects within the plan were picked up by government agency, civil society, and community partners and the planning framework continues to guide sustainability work across the international watershed.
The IJC and its watershed board provides the international watershed governance framework in our watershed, established with the support of the provinces, state and the national governments. The watershed board has participation of government agencies, First Nations, Métis, US Tribes and the public and existing mechanisms to engage public and industrial stakeholders.
An international approach is needed that provides for sustained outcomes for the lake, including establishment of water quality objectives, targets, timelines, and a mechanism for ongoing accountability and assessment of progress internationally toward objectives.
What's needed to move forward?
- An international water quality agreement and process.
- A water quality agreement that establishes objectives, targets and allocations for phosphorus and processes to achieve them along with review and reporting requirements, perhaps modeled on the GLWQA Annex 4 process, as has been applied to Lake Erie.
- Continuing the IJC role for ongoing oversight and accountability.
- The IJC should maintain its role for ongoing oversight and independent assessment and reporting on programs in both countries and progress towards meeting water quality objectives and targets—similar to its role on the Great Lakes.
- Science integration in support of international action.
- Canada's development of a domestic phosphorus management plan should be integrated and in line with the processes underway in Minnesota (through the Minnesota Lake of the Woods Total Maximum Daily Load study and restoration plan) to set and support phosphorus water quality objectives, targets and allocations to inform development of remedial action plans for both countries.
- Coordinated, international cooperation should continue to facilitate sharing of data among agencies and jurisdictions, enabling watershed managers to collaborate on shared adaptive management approaches to safeguard and improve water quality and aquatic ecosystem health.