Lake Winnipeg Basin Initiative Renewal

A renewed Lake Winnipeg Basin Initiative (LWBI) will engage citizens, scientists, and domestic and international partners in actions to improve the water quality and health of Lake Winnipeg. There will be a shift in emphasis from understanding the lake to taking action to address nutrient issues. The following program elements will comprise the Lake Winnipeg Basin Initiative:

• Stewardship Action: On-the-ground action to reduce nutrient inputs to the lake will be leveraged through a funding program. Funds will be targeted at the geographic areas that are the largest sources of nutrients and on actions with the greatest impact on the lake, as informed by the successes of the initial funding and science programs.
• Science: Science efforts will be focussed on watershed research and monitoring to help further target actions to improve the lake and to measure the performance of actions taken to improve water quality.
• Action through Transboundary Partners: Increased emphasis on work with other governments (provincial, state, federal) will build towards nutrient-reducing agreements with U.S. states and Ontario.

Renewal of the LWBI over the next five years (2012-17) will:

• Stimulate and support other stakeholder actions to work in partnerships to reduce nutrients in key watersheds in the basin;
• Ensure inclusion of the nutrient issue in transboundary collaboration across jurisdictions and internationally;
• Conduct targeted research and monitoring to fill priority research and monitoring gaps identified in the current LWBI.

Implementation of the initial LWBI is the strategy to achieve Target 3.5 (Fresh Water Quality) identified in Goal 3 (Water Quality) of the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS).

Specifically, continued federal efforts in the Lake Winnipeg basin through renewal of the Lake Winnipeg Basin Initiative support FSDS Target 3.5, Fresh Water Quality. FSDS implementation strategies related to a renewed Lake Winnipeg Basin Initiative focus on stewardship action, strategic domestic and international collaborations, and scientific knowledge in priority areas to reduce nutrients in Lake Winnipeg and its basin to support the sustainability of the lake. Renewal of the LWBI renews the Government of Canada’s commitment to the sustainability of Lake Winnipeg under the FSDS.

The overall results of the renewed LWBI will be measured through water quality monitoring in the basin. Further targeted research and monitoring would be conducted to fill priority research and monitoring gaps identified in the first four years of the LWBI, as well as track the effectiveness of management decisions.