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The Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum –
a meeting of all the minds in our basin.

Since 2004, the annual International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum has been a strategic incubator for cross-border research, management collaboration, networking and communication.

The Foundation leads a partnership of agencies to organize the Forum each year. Attended each year by upwards of 160 research and resource managers, the Forum is the "hub" for all groups working to ensure the future ecological integrity of the waters of the Rainy-Lake of the Woods Basin.

The draft pdf 2025 Program and Abstracts (675 KB) for the 2025 International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum is now available.

A pdf Speaker Schedule Quickview (475 KB) for the two day event is also available.

March 12, the Forum starts at 09:30 am CST. The Foundation recepton and dinner 5 pm on March 12 will be at Thunderbird Lodge on Rainy Lake.

March 13, symposium sessions start at 09:00 am CST and end at approximately 3:30 pm.

Registration cutoff deadline is February 28, 2025 — this is a hard-stop as we must have catering numbers locked in by then!

If you plan to attend and have not registered already, you must register by February 28! Register Now

Registration opened January 6, 2025 and closes February 28.

Date and Location: March 12–13, 2025, Minnesota North College - Rainy River campus, International Falls, MN

Registration cutoff deadline is February 28 – this is a hard stop due to catering requirements.

Registration fee $135 USD. Register and pay by January 31 to get the "Early Bird" rate of $125 USD.
Students free with valid student ID - Enter: STUDENT2025 in the coupon field ( choose "Individual Registration" button -- discount coupon is not available as part of group registrations).
Registration includes lunch on March 12, the Foundation dinner reception on the 12th, lunch on the 13th, and refreshment breaks both days.
Major purchase cards are accepted for online payment and is the preferred option. If necessary, you may choose an offline "Pay Offline" option for Mail-in cheque.
Sorry, but we are currently not able to accept Purchase Orders/Commissioners Warrants etc.

Please register now — Registration cuttoff date of Feb 28 is a hard-stop as we must have catering numbers locked in by then!

AmericInn Inn
2500 Keenan Drive, International Falls MN (just 1 block west of the Minnesota North College — site of the Forum)

We have a group block reserved for arrival March 10, 2025 with departure March 14, 2025 (you can book one or more nights as you wish).

Group rate: $110.00 USD per night plus taxes.

Group cutoff: February 10, 2025 rooms not reserved by then will fall out of the block and will no longer be available for the discounted rate.

Reservations: I recommend booking by phone direct to the property front desk 1-218-598-8510 and quote the group code Water Conference 2025.

(Web booking is also possible at https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/ but to get the group rate you must use the web-specific group code 031025WAT)

Group blook rooms are held for arrival March 10 with departure March 14. These rooms are able to be booked for one or more nights as you wish.
Cancellation policy for AmericInn: Requires cancellation 24 hours prior to 3 pm of the booked date of arrival. Any cancellations after this time will be charged for one night, room and tax charge.

The AmericInn has a limited number of rooms set aside at this rate for our Forum. So...book early to ensure you get a room!

Reservations: 1-218-598-8510 (front desk).

A big "thank you" to our 2025 sponsors. Hosting the Forum each year would not be possible without the support of many organizations, including:

To become a sponsor of the 2025 International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum, please contact:
Teika Newton, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Nominations are now closed for the 2025 Kallemeyn Award. The 2025 Kallemeyn Award will be presented on the evening of March 12, 2025 at the International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum during the Foundation reception.

The Kallemeyn Award is presented annually by the Foundation to an individual who has demonstrated in the Rainy-Lake of the Woods watershed:

Outstanding professional achievement in scientific research or resource management.
Significant contributions to collaborative and cooperative approaches to research or resource management internationally.

The Award will be presented at the International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum when there’s a deserving recipient as determined by the selection committee.

Nominations are now closed for the Wilson Stewardship Award. The Wilson Award will be presented on the evening of March 12, 2025 at the International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum during the Foundation reception.

The Wilson Stewardship Award is presented by the Foundation to individuals, groups, or projects that have made significant contributions to environmental stewardship in the Rainy-Lake of the Woods watershed through:

Education, outreach, civic engagement and participation in stewardship initiatives or program development.
Projects or programs focused on protection, restoration, preservation or reduction of environmental impact and development of sustainable practices.

The Award will be presented at the International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum (March, 2025) when there’s a deserving recipient as determined by the selection committee.

Organizing the Forum is a collaborative effort of many individuals and agencies, lead by the Foundation. Many thanks to the 2025 Forum Organizing Committee, all of whom have helped organize and run this annual "meeting of the minds" in our watershed for many years.

Teika Newton, Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation
Meghan Mills, Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation
Jesse Anderson, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Mike Kennedy, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Andrew Paterson, Ontario Ministry of Environment Conservation and Parks
Lucas King, Territorial Planning Unit, Grand Council Treaty 3
Kayla Bowe, Red Lake Department of Natural Resources
Ryan Maki, Voyageurs National Park
Kelly Sjerven, Minnesota North College - Rainy River campus
Diana Fred, Environment and Climate Change Canada
Matt Julius, Minnesota St. Cloud State University
Reugen Wagenius, Minnesota St. Cloud State University
Todd Sellers, Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation

Limited travel support may be available to assist postgraduate students to present their research at the Forum, from the Deborah Battigelli Memorial Fund at the Foundation. Support is typically offered for up to one student per year. To receive support through the fund, a candidate's research abstracts must be accepted for presentation at the Forum. To apply, contact Todd Sellers, Executive Director, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Battigelli family established the Deborah Battigelli Memorial Fund at LOWWSF to honour Deborah’s love of life at the lake and her interest to preserve the lake area for future generations to continue to enjoy what she loved. The Fund assists the up-and-coming generation of scientists with their research on our lakes with limited travel support to present their research at the Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum.

Proceedings Reports of the annual International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum are available from 2006 onward, here: Forum Proceedings

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Thank you, Todd

Since the Foundation’s launch in 2005, we have cultivated international relationships at all levels and sectors in pursuit of the sustainability of the water quality of Lake of the Woods. Our Foundation was formed to meet the challenge identified in 2004 by the then Lake of the Woods District Property Owners’ Association (LOWDPOA, now LOWDSA, the Lake of the Woods District Sustainability Association) and its environment committee, chaired by Todd Sellers. Algae blooms on Lake of the Woods, driven by excessive nutrient loading, were becoming more frequent, toxic and lasting later in the year. LOWDPOA’s environment committee sought greater flexibility to advocate for international planning and policy to address the problem, and this was the impetus for a community-driven effort to establish a new, stand-alone registered charity with Todd as its inaugural Executive Director.

Over the past 20 years, the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation - under Todd’s direction - has coordinated work among government agencies, Indigenous communities, civil society organizations, the public, academia and scientists, and the International Joint Commission of the USA and Canada, all in pursuit of growing the body of Lake of the Woods watershed science and knowledge to inform robust watershed policy. Todd has been instrumental in securing many legacy achievements through the Foundation, including the annual International Rainy – Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum, in its 22nd year in 2025.

With Todd’s leadership, our Foundation championed international watershed governance, first establishing the International Watershed Coordination Program (with Kelli Saunders as the first International Watershed Coordinator, from its inception to 2022), then pressing for a mandate for the International Joint Commission’s participation in the region. Our Foundation’s advocacy resulted in the establishment of the IJC’s International Rainy – Lake of the Woods Watershed Board in 2013. We have been active participants in this board, with Todd as a member since its inception.

Even before the IJC board launched, with partners around the basin, our Foundation established the International Multi-Agency Arrangement, a table where international government agencies meet, share information, and collaborate on planning and strategies to address issues of concern affecting shared, international waters in the Rainy – Lake of the Woods watershed. These cooperative relationships have been integral to our ability to produce the comprehensive State of the Basin Report on water quality in 2009, 2014 and 2022, and to underpin our ongoing work to advance international water quality planning frameworks, including new work we’ve just begun to develop a collaborative nutrient management plan for phosphorus for the Canadian portion of the Rainy-Lake of the Woods watershed.

We are enormously grateful to Todd and we wish him a well-deserved, healthy, restful retirement while we continue to embrace his generous contributions and expertise as one of our volunteer Directors.

Welcome Teika Newton as Executive Director

As we move forward into our next chapter, we are delighted to welcome Teika Newton (she/her) as our new Executive Director. Familiar to the Foundation’s stakeholders for her work as the International Watershed Coordinator over the past two years, Teika is a long-time participant in regional watershed science, policy, and governance activities. She has served as a board member for the International Joint Commission’s International Rainy–Lake of the Woods Watershed Board, and co-chaired the Board’s Community Advisory Group, Engagement Committee, and currently the Adaptive Management Committee. Teika also has been helping to guide the IJC Board’s work on climate adaptation since 2016. Teika lives in Treaty 3 Territory, just outside Kenora Ontario with her husband, Mike, their son Sam and daughter Maya, and assorted dogs, cats and wild forest friends. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Over the past two years, Teika shepherded a complex project through the International Joint Commission, engaging international agencies and partners working on water quality issues in the Rainy River and Lake of the Woods basins to propose international water quality objectives and adopt alert levels through the regional IJC watershed board for nutrients and contaminants of concern. She continues to work with these partners to develop a long-term, shared, international monitoring, assessment and reporting program to ensure these water quality goals are achieved and maintained.

Welcome Meghan Mills as International Watershed Coordinator

With Teika moving into the Executive Director position, Meg Mills (she/her) has joined the team to take over the International Watershed Coordinator role. 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 of International Watershed Coordinator, joining others dedicated to protecting our shared waters.

Meg is currently completing her Master of Natural Resources Management at the University of Manitoba, with a focus on researching meaningful public participation and community engagement in resource management through a co-governance lens. Her background includes diverse environmental projects that blend science and storytelling, with community-based monitoring and project coordination work, equipping her with strong technical and communication skills. Continually learning the complexities of water governance, she is deeply committed to relationship-building and meaningful collaboration with diverse groups through empathic approaches to achieve impactful outcomes. In her free time, she enjoys backcountry canoe trips in the summer (a humbling reminder of coexisting with natures quirks, including bugs), cross-country skiing during the long, dark prairie winters, and exploring different art mediums, most recently, needle felting (it’s surprisingly cathartic to repeatedly poke wool with a sharp needle!). Meg looks forward to meeting and working alongside the LOWWSF community, and we are excited to welcome her.

The Next Chapter

Our majestic and precious Lake of the Woods faces many competing pressures and is experiencing rapid changes. Today’s ecological challenges are impacted by a changing climate, including reduced ice cover and changing precipitation patterns, droughts and floods, and the introduction and establishment of novel and invasive species. Human activities on the landscape also impact the lake’s water quality, and recent years have seen many shifts in regional forestry, agriculture, mining and land development practices, in response to economic changes from the local to the global level.

Ecosystem changes are additive and integrated. They compound the complexity of ecosystem relationships and behaviours and changes never operate in isolation. Every year we learn more about watershed science, yet the more we learn, the more we appreciate just how complex and dynamic is the Rainy-Lake of the Woods system. We may test solutions to one problem, only to learn of unexpected impacts to our actions elsewhere in the ecosystem. A system this big, this intricate and this multi-layered requires thoughtful policy responses to match the scale and scope of the emerging science, and such multilateral policymaking only happens through collaboration done mindfully. This is our mission. We are champions of sustainability for the Lake of the Woods watershed, through science, policy and planning. It’s a big task and one that we are excited to tackle with our exceptional, energetic and expert team.

In the coming year, the Foundation is moving forward a key action towards fulfilling this mission as Teika and Meg will be working with local communities, knowledge keepers, stakeholders and experts in the Canadian portions of Rainy River and the Lake of the Woods to develop a domestic phosphorus management plan that will support international water quality goals.

Please join me in thanking Todd and congratulating Teika and Meg.

LAKE OF THE WOODS WATER SUSTAINABILITY FOUNDATION

_______________________________________

Don Konantz

Chair

Registration Reminder and Forum Program Now Available

Registration Information

Where to stay

Thanks To Our 2025 Forum Sponsors

Kallemeyn Award

Wilson Stewardship Award

2025 Forum Organizing Committee

Deborah Battigelli Memorial Fund - Student Support

Proceedings of Previous Forums

Registration Reminder and Forum Program Now Available