A Sustainability Plan

A Sustainability Plan

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?

Key elements of a plan are:

Nutrient management to combat harmful algal blooms
Aquatic Invasive Species prevention and response
Surface and Groundwater contamination risk mitigation
Systematic monitoring across the basin

We been working towards this goal and many of the pieces are being put in place, with nutrient plans being developed by Minnesota and Canada, invasive species risk assessment underway, and the IJC watershed Board established as the binational watershed governance framework in our basin, with participation of government agencies, First Nations, Métis, US Tribes and the public

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Consultations on Canadian Phosphorus Targets

In early 2021, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) launched a Lake of the Woods public engagement "portal" website and LOWWSF held a series of public webinars with the ECCC Lake of the Woods Team, to seek public input on the development of Lake Ecosystem Objectives and potential phosphorus reduction targets for Lake of the Woods.

Although the public comment period is now over, the ECCC Lake of the Woods site is still a central location for information on ECCC's development of proposed Lake Ecosystem Objectives and potential measures to control phosphorus for Lake of the Woods to address harmful and nuisance algae blooms, and improve the health of the lake.

A summary factsheet on the proposals and a more detailed supplementary factsheet, and other resources are available at the ECCC Lake of the Woods engagement site.

September 21, 2023

2024 Watershed Forum Announcement and Call for Abstracts

Announcement and Call for Abstracts

2024 International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum - Save the date and call for abstracts

Location: Minnesota North College - Rainy River campus, International Falls, MN.

Date: March 6–7, 2024

Overview: Professional symposium for research and resource managers, policy makers and the public interested in the Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed

Abstract Deadline: December 15, 2023. Please submit the following to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Presenter Information: Name, Research Organization or Agency, Mailing Address, Telephone, Email, Brief Bio.
Submittal Information: Author(s), Presentation or Poster, Title, Abstract, Location of study (i.e., lake name, river name, or GPS coordinate etc.)

August 28, 2023

Algae Bloom 2023 is on its way

After a hot June but cool and sometimes smoky July, the algae bloom on Lake of the Woods started to develop in late July and early August as usual. Blooms began in the southern Big Traverse Bay and in the Morson-Sabaskong area to the south-east. By late August, the bloom covered 34% of the lake and has progressed northward through middle channel to Oak Point. Satellite-derrived measures of chlorophyll-a (a pigment in the algae) ranged above 40 µg/L (red in the satellite image) indicating severe bloom formation in a few locations (anything above 10 µg/L is considered a bloom).

Algal blooms in Lake of the Woods typically peak in the late fall, and progress into the north-central area of the lake. Thus, more extensive blooms are expected to come later, expanding in extent and severity into the fall. Last year, peak severity occurred on October 13, 2022. We’ll have a complete report on the annual bloom conditions later in the fall, once the satellite tracking is complete for the season.

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August 28, 2023

IJC Watershed Board Public Meetings Report

The IJC’s International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board held its annual meetings with the public in Baudette, Minnesota on August 16 and Kenora, Ontario on August 17.

The IJC watershed board presented an update on its activities during the past year and key priorities for the coming year. The board's Aquatic Ecosystem Health Committee is leading several projects this year, including: focus on international water quality objectives and core monitoring design, studies of erosion at the south shore of Lake of the Woods, and reporting of exceedances of water quality criteria.

The board hosted guest updates from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Environment and Climate Change Canada on these agencies’ work to address the phosphorus loading that feeds the excessive algae blooms on Lake of the Woods.

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