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Province conducts lake checkup

Officials meet with municipalities in effort to boost water-quality standards

By: Bruce Owen

Posted: 07/9/2011 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

The public can comment on new standards to cut phosphorus and nitrogen in Lake Winnipeg by Aug. 4. Pollutants lead to harmful algae growth in the lake. (MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES) Photo Store

Plenty of pickerel in the lake

IF Lake Winnipeg is so unhealthy, why has pickerel production increased so dramatically since the 1990s?

Why is the pickerel (walleye) fishery much more productive than observed historically?

Scientists don't know, the State of Lake Winnipeg report says.

One theory is that the rise in pickerel production may be related to an increase in nutrients and, ultimately, an increase in the food source for pickerel.

Another theory revolves around the timing of the invasion of rainbow smelt to the lake in the early 1990s coinciding with increases in pickerel production. Rainbow smelt are small fish that graze on tiny organisms. It's unknown to what extent rainbow smelt has affected pickerel production in the lake and whether rainbow smelt comprises a significant part of the pickerel diet, particularly in the lake's north basin.

Research by the University of Manitoba is looking at the role of invasive rainbow smelt in the Lake Winnipeg food web and the impact on the commercial fishery.

Environment Canada, the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Toronto are also doing research.

Provincial officials will fan out across Manitoba in the coming days to meet with municipal officials as part of a plan to clean up Lake Winnipeg through stronger waste-water rules, Water Stewardship Minister Christine Melnick said.

The goal is to put new water-quality standards into the Water Protection Act to reduce phosphorus, and, where warranted, nitrogen, from entering Lake Winnipeg, in order to control harmful algae growth.

"They have been followed by a number of communities in Manitoba for quite a while," Melnick said. "There shouldn't be any big surprises for any communities."

The consultations come with the release of a major report that looks at the health of Lake Winnipeg. Public comments on the new standards will be accepted until Aug. 4.

The report, by Manitoba Water Stewardship and Environment Canada, looks at research on Lake Winnipeg, including water quality, water levels, algae growth and climate conditions.

It also looks at potential threats to it other than from huge algae blooms, such as from zebra and quagga mussels. It's to serve as a guidebook on how to clean up the lake and is available for download on the Water Stewardship website.

"We have to be much more aggressive," Melnick said. "We know that we can't afford to cut corners. We know we have to go the full distance to save Lake Winnipeg. And it's not just Lake Winnipeg; it's the adjoining waters as well."

Melnick said how soon the water-quality standards are enshrined in law still needs to be worked out.

Last month, the Selinger government introduced legislation aimed at reducing the amount of phosphorus from agriculture runoff that goes into the lake by 50 per cent.

The legislation would ban hog-industry expansion that does not use advanced water-protection practices and the winter spreading of manure for 2013. A new tax credit for livestock farmers who use advanced technologies to treat manure "responsibly" will also be introduced.

The proposed bans came after the release of a report, led by University of Regina biologist Peter Leavitt, that blames Manitoba crop and livestock production for at least half of Lake Winnipeg's phosphorus problem. The report said phosphorus loading must quickly be addressed to avoid uncontrolled algae growth.

The province also promised to improve nutrient-filtering wetlands, notably the Netley-Libau Marsh, and to require the City of Winnipeg to modernize its North End sewage-treatment plant.

The government also said it would also host an international summit to co-ordinate phosphorus reduction in the Lake Winnipeg watershed.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 9, 2011 A1

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