Presenting to the Standing Policy Committee on Water, Waste and Environment, we express our concern over the 80% cost increase for biological nutrient removal facilities at Winnipeg's North End Water Pollution Control Centre (NEWPCC). As councillors work to secure funding for this project, we urge City Council to optimize the chemical phosphorus reduction solution already in place at NEWPCC, in order to achieve phosphorus compliance.

Our Year Three report card reviews progress since 2020, and highlights urgent next steps the federal government must take to protect and restore Lake Winnipeg’s water quality and ecosystem health, and to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

Together with our partners, we are urging Manitoba’s minister of Environment and Climate Change to accelerate phosphorus compliance at Winnipeg’s North End Water Pollution Control Centre to protect Lake Winnipeg.

Our post-election letter to the Premier of Manitoba emphasizes the importance of focusing on phosphorus reduction to improve the health of Lake Winnipeg.

Our post-election letter to Manitoba’s minister of Municipal and Northern Relations emphasizes the importance of focusing on phosphorus reduction to improve the health of Lake Winnipeg.

Our post-election letter to Manitoba’s minister of Transportation and Infrastructure emphasizes the importance of focusing on phosphorus reduction to improve the health of Lake Winnipeg.

Our post-election letter to Manitoba’s minister of Environment and Climate Change emphasizes the importance of focusing on phosphorus reduction to improve the health of Lake Winnipeg.

Manitoba Environment and Climate solicited public feedback to inform the development of a water strategy action plan. Our submission highlights the valuable data generated by the Lake Winnipeg Community-Based Monitoring Network. We also raise significant concerns about Manitoba’s water strategy framework.

Jointly with the International Institute for Sustainable Development, we review the evidence supporting a focus on phosphorus to address algal blooms on Lake Winnipeg. Aggressive phosphorus-reduction policies have been implemented in many jurisdictions since the 1980s, yet action to reduce phosphorus loading in Manitoba has been stalled for decades by ongoing debate about the need for nitrogen reduction. We urge the Manitoba government to make use of the best-available evidence to implement and enforce clear phosphorus-reduction policies for point and non-point sources.

Together with the Lake Winnipeg Indigenous Collective, we urge the federal government to renew the Lake Winnipeg Basin Program for a 10-year period in Budget 2023 to enable robust and continuous knowledge generation for evidence-based decision making.