Along with the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Lake Winnipeg Indigenous Collective, we call for accelerated phosphorus compliance at Winnipeg’s North End Water Pollution Control Centre – and present concrete action the Manitoba government can take to achieve this.

Our submission proposed nutrient targets for Lake Winnipeg highlights the need for evidence-based, ecologically meaningful targets which can be linked to concrete timelines, and integrated with new regulatory and incentive-based action, and recommends the proposed regulation be redrafted to achieve measurable results.

Together with the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Lake Winnipeg Indigenous Collective, we stress the need for continued urgency to meet previous commitments and identify two opportunities to reduce phosphorus levels in Winnipeg north end sewage treatment plant effluent well before long-term upgrades are slated to be complete.

In response to proposed issues, goals and performance indicators of a new provincial water management strategy, we recommend: increasing Indigenous representation at decision-making tables; prioritizing phosphorus reduction to address the eutrophication of Lake Winnipeg; and using community-based monitoring data to support provincial water decision-making.

In response to increased investments in infrastructure through the Manitoba Restart Program, our letter to Premier Pallister advocates for the immediate prioritization of upgrades to Winnipeg’s North End Water Pollution Control Centre.

Together with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), we are recommending an interim retrofit to Winnipeg’s largest sewage treatment plant. A chemical system could be implemented quickly and at low cost to significantly reduce the facility’s phosphorus contribution to Lake Winnipeg.

Presenting to the Standing Committee on Legislative Affairs on proposed amendments to Manitoba’s Environment Act, we recommended that no changes be made to legislation governing Manitoba’s hog industry until water-quality data is available to determine if current manure management practices are effective at keeping phosphorus out of our lakes and rivers.

Our submission recommends that no changes to regulation or associated legislation dictating where, when and how livestock manure can be used as an agricultural fertilizer be made without first providing evidence that increased manure application will not result in a corresponding increase in phosphorus loading to Lake Winnipeg.