By Bev Clark for the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation.
In my career as an Environmental Officer and later as a Scientist I have attended many public meetings where water levels were the primary issue. It is nearly impossible to make any gains at such a meeting because there are always exactly half of the people who want the water levels higher and exactly half that want them lower. Its all about the docks…right? OK so here’s the thing, although the regulatory agencies do consider multiple uses, the finer details are almost never about your dock.
This year’s workshop was a true testament to how we can adapt our engagement for the collective efforts on stewardship. On March 31st, 38 people came together on Zoom and worked together, with our two presenters, to discuss the most effective ways to engage citizens in science and stewardship. The lessons learned came from all over the watershed and involved a diverse range of passionate scientists, educators, lake users, and associations.
The health of Lake of the Woods also matters to our U.S. neighbours who share this important natural resource. The State of Minnesota, through the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), and the US EPA, under authorities in the Federal Clean Water Act, are also developing a plan for the lake's restoration including setting reduction targets for U.S. sources of phosphorus.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s draft Lake of the Woods Nutrient TMDL study will be on public notice from February 22, 2021 through March 24, 2021. The TMDL study is available on the MPCA’s website or can be found by searching online for “Lake of the Woods TMDL”.
Two virtual public information meetings will be held via Webex on March 4 from 1-3 p.m. and 6-8 p.m CST. Information meeting attendees will need to register to obtain a link to the meeting(s). Follow the links below to register for the meetings:
Former Prime Minister and LOWWSF- mentor leaves a legacy of international cooperation to protect Lake of the Woods water quality.
The Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation (LOWWSF) and its Directors mourn the loss of the Right Honourable John Napier Turner PC CC QC, former Prime Minister of Canada and LOWWSF supporter and mentor.
Lake of the Woods has lost a great friend and champion for the lake. Mr. Turner was passionate about water, its importance to Canadians and our responsibilities as citizens to protect it. He had a special passion for Lake of the Woods and for protecting its water quality. His determination to bring attention and action to protect the lake water quality led to the formation of the LOWWSF and led to the establishment of the International Joint Commission (IJC) watershed board to coordinate water quality efforts on this binational great lake.
This is really good stuff -- check it out! We’ve all seen the compelling satellite pictures of blue green algae blooms covering Lake of the Woods. Now there’s a way for you to see them in near real time and also how they can be used.
Dr. Caren Binding of ECCC has harnessed these images for near real-time tracking of algae blooms and has developed indices of bloom severity, intensity and extent across the lake. These indices will be extremely useful in monitoring and measuring the effectiveness of efforts to cut phosphorus to reduce harmful algae blooms.
Dr. Binding has also launched an online tool (ECCC’s EOLakeWatch), that provides a suite of website interactive tools for algal bloom monitoring for Lake of the Woods, Lake Winnipeg and Lake Erie. You can also sign up to receive periodic bloom reports or follow Dr. Binding / EOLakeWatch on Twitter.
LOWWSF is providing a grant to Trent University researchers working to quantify nutrient (primarily phosphorus) loading from tributaries to Lake of the Woods and the Rainy River from the Canadian portion of the basin.
The research team, led by Dr. Catherine Eimers, continued this work this summer, with much of the heavy lifting being done by MSc. candidate Andrew Williams. We expect the results of Andrew’s work to be extremely useful in identifying concrete actions that can be taken to reduce phosphorus loading to Lake of the Woods, to combat the harmful algal blooms.
Andrew’s thesis research is being supported by the grant from the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation to Trent University, with matching funds from Mitacs, a not-for-profit organization that supports training of researchers in Canada.
The Rainy River is a remarkable story of recovery from pollution. In decades gone by, pollution from paper mills and raw sewage severely harmed the river, its fish populations and recreational potential. In August, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency released a report on its multi-year study of the health of the Rainy River.
In general, the report finds that the Rainy River is now a high-quality resource in good condition, although is listed as impaired for fish consumption due to elevated mercury in fish, similar to many lakes and rivers in our region. The report concludes that with restoration successful, it is now critical to protect this river and the streams and landscapes that feed it.