For 20 years the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation has brought together citizens, dozens of municipalities and Indigenous nations and state, provincial and federal governments in Canada and the USA to amass the scientific, technical and community knowledge needed to inform an international water quality plan while building the trust and capacity to implement it.

With the arrival of the new year, the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation has some important

Meghan Mills (she/her) joined the team to take over the International Watershed Coordinator role in January 2025.

Meg lives on Treaty 1 Territory in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and cherishes time spent off-grid at Pelicanpouch Lake, located on Treaty 3 Territory near Minaki, Ontario. She is thrilled to step into the role, joining others dedicated to protecting our shared waters.

The Proceedings Report of the 2024 International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum is available for download at the Foundation’s website:  lowwsf.com/forum-proceedings. Held March 6-7 in International Falls Minnesota, 142 researchers, resource managers, policy makers, and members of the public put Lake of the Woods and its watershed under the microscope. 

The Forum featured a moderated panel discussion

Paul Anderson is the 2024 recipient of the Gerry Wilson Stewardship Award.  Paul was honored with this international award in recognition of his lifetime of environmental advocacy work on behalf of the Rainy Lake Conservancy, Voyageurs National Park and Voyageurs Conservancy and his service on the Community Advisory Group of the IJC International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board. 

The Lake

Dr. Caren Binding, research scientist in aquatic optics and remote sensing at Environment and Climate Change Canada, is the 2024 recipient of the Larry Kallemeyn Award. The Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation presented the award

The view from space is compelling and confirms what we have seen firsthand on Lake of the Woods at the end of September. The cyanobacterial bloom (aka blue-green algae) on Lake of the Woods is tracking towards being one of

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

We’ve all seen the compelling satellite pictures of blue green algae blooms covering Lake of the Woods.  As part of the Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Lake of the Woods Science Plan (2016-2020), Dr. Caren