Megan Garner and Alexandra Lavictoire (Environment & Climate Change Canada), Abby Moore (US Army Corps of Engineers), Phil Talmage (MN Department of Natural Resources), Ryan Maki (Voyageurs National Park)
Summary
In this webinar, members of the International Rainy - Lake of the Woods Watershed Board's Water Levels Committee and Adaptive Management Committee will walk us through a explanation of what rule curves are, how they have been established, and how they are used in the daily management of water levels and flows in the Rainy - Lake of the Woods boundary waters.
Please come prepared to listen, learn and ask questions - everything you ever wanted to know about how and why water levels and flows are managed as they are on Namakan Lake, Rainy Lake and Rainy River! Note that this session will be recorded for rebroadcast on the LOWWSF website.
About the Presenters:
Megan Garner is a regional engineer working with the National Hydrological Service through Environment and Climate Change Canada. She is a member of the International Joint Commission’s regional watershed board, the International Rainy – Lake of the Woods Watershed Board, where she also is the Canadian co-chair of the board’s Water Levels Committee. In addition to her role with the IJC board, Megan also serves as the Canadian representative on the Lake of the Woods Control Board and the International Lake of the Woods Control Board.
Alexandra Lavictoire is a water resources engineer who works with the Lake of the Woods Control Board secretariat and serves as an engineering advisor to the International Rainy – Lake of the Woods Watershed Board and its Water Levels Committee. Alexandra is the Canadian co-chair of the watershed board’s Adaptive Management Committee and she is a member of the board’s Water Levels Committee.
Abby Moore is a hydrologic engineer working with the US Army Corps of Engineers out of the St Paul, Minnesota district office. Abby is the US secretary to the International Rainy – Lake of the Woods Watershed Board and serves as an engineering advisor to the board and, like Alexandra and Megan, is a member of the Water Levels Committee.
Ryan Maki manages the Aquatic Ecology Program at Voyageurs National Park, where his team conducts water quality, mercury, and amphibian monitoring, analyzes the impacts of aquatic invasive species, and assesses how water level management affects the park’s aquatic ecosystem. Ryan has been working on lake level management issues in the Rainy Lake-Lake of the Woods watershed since arriving at Voyageurs National Park in 2004. Ryan was the inaugural US co-chair of the Adaptive Management Committee for the International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board from 2020-2023 and he was a member of the International Rainy and Namakan Lakes Rule Curve Study Board (2015-2018).
Phil Talmage is the Area Fisheries Supervisor with the Division of Fish and Wildlife for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, based in International Falls, MN. Since 2023, Phil has served as the US co-chair of the Adaptive Management Committee for the International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board.