Summer is upon us and all across the rivers and lakes of Manitoba people are out enjoying fresh air, sun, and water. Many Manitobans enthusiastically enjoy heading to the campsite or cottage to swim, kayak, canoe, ski, and surf. Many of have been going to the same place for three or four generations now, relying on the water being there.
Lake Winnipeg was recently named as one of the 48 most beautiful lakes in the world.
Its pristine white sand beaches are ideal for sunbathing, and its waters are popular for windsurfing, kayaking, paddle boarding, and more. Lake Winnipeg is also a special place for the many First Nation and Métis communities calling the shores their home. Another perk is that its over a thousand miles of beaches and shorelines shelter one of the world’s largest freshwater lakes from crowds and overtourism.
Condé Nast Traveler
Great News, right?
Sadly, no.
In 2013 (over 10 years ago!), Lake Winnipeg was declared by the Global Nature Fund as the World’s Most Threatened Lake.
With a watershed that spans nearly 1 million square kilometres, and drains 90 % of the prairie agricultural land in Canada, Lake Winnipeg is considered to be the eutrophic large lake in the world. Eutrophication refers to the over-abundance of nutrients in a water body, causing algal blooms that can be toxic. For Lake Winnipeg that nutrient is phosphorus, and summer measurements of chlorophyll a, an indicator of the amount of algae, have been the highest of the world’s large lakes.
Global Nature Fund
Not only that, GNF found that the toxic bacteria affecting Lake Winnipeg had been found in 246 lakes across Canada.
Because of the intersection between agriculture, cities, and the proximity of human recreational activity to food and dwellings, I think it is safe to assume that the lakes we are using for recreation, food, and drinking water are gradually being poisoned.
What Are We Doing About It?
Not enough, unfortunately.
The algae blooms in Lake Winnipeg, and other prairie lakes are not a coincidence. They are happening because we are feeding them. Give algae more food and it grows.
Many folks point to Winnipeg as the culprit. As the largest single point of effluent, it is an easy, but misguided, target.
Winnipeg’s problems with a sewage spill earlier this year is well known. The leak will cause a huge spike in the nutrient load feeding Lake Winnipeg’s algae. The environmental costs may not be clearly known for some time but the economic costs are already coming due in a $4.8 billion lawsuit for damages.
We probably need do a sanity check on the “axe the taxes” philosophy when reducing taxes inevitably leads to not spending enough on critical infrastructure. The spill should never have happened.
Even if that spill is an outlier, Winnipeg still contributes a lot of effluent to the big Lake. We need to pay attention to sewage load and the load caused by nutrients applied to lawns and home gardens.
We need to be actively promoting “no-lawn” movements that encourage the growth of hardy indigenous plants and food gardening practices that can help lock in nutrients. And we need to be ending the practice of neighbourhood and strata organizations that ban naturalization efforts by individuals.
8.6 Million Small things Equals One Big Problem
Winnipeg is low-hanging fruit in the phosphorous figures though. Yes, it is the largest single point of contamination, which makes it an easy target. But Winnipeg only accounts for about 12% of the phosphorous getting in to Lake Winnipeg (and only half of that is sewage). As such, it is the easiest to spot and, therefore, the easiest to work on mitigating.
The big issue is agriculture. Hogwatch Manitoba recently published a feature in the Winnipeg Free Press that asserts that 35% of the phosphorous in the lake comes from Manitoba agriculture (note Manitoba agriculture – the Lake Winnipeg Watershed extends into Saskatchewan and Alberta, too.)
Keep an eye on this situation because upcoming improvements in city and municipal waste treatment facilities will make their contributions almost negligible. It is expected to become far more apparent that factory farming combined with poor regulation and even poorer enforcement is the culprit here. Hogwatch asserts while the city works to reduce phosphorous and nitrogen (P&N), they have increased exponentially in agricultural runoff.
Manitoba’s factory hog industry has grown rapidly over the last 30 years. Manitoba’s hundreds of hog barns sold 8.6 million hogs in 2023, producing more waste than all the human waste in Ontario and Quebec combined. Massive scale producers will tell you that they are following all the regulations and being responsible. Clearly, either they aren’t following the regulations or the regulations aren’t sufficient to stop the crisis in our waterways.
There’s a spatial correlation between the high concentration of animal agriculture in the southeast and the region’s phosphorus hot spots.
Manitoba Cooperator
The answer is not simply to trust an industry that is likely profiting from the death of Lake Winnipeg to reliably self-report. We can’t trust the administrators who claim to be putting in appropriate regulations while the big Lake dies for the benefit of shareholder return. We need to constantly review and revise animal and nutrient management techniques and requirements while studying and implementing regenerative agriculture.
Our Waterways and Our Lake Needs Responsible Stewardship
None of this would be an issue if all the waste was composted and applied responsibly to fields. But it isn’t; it is concentrated in anaeorbic waste lagoons that spew methane, HS2, and nitric oxide. It is thickly applied to fields close to barns using out of date calculators for the industry.
Brent Bjorklund – Environmental Activist
This summer, after a day enjoying the lake, while barbecuing those pork ribs, consider the following observation from Hogwatch.
In 2007, the Clean Environment Commission issued a report on the sustainability of the hog industry in Manitoba, and one of the recommendations was that government review phosphorus application provisions of the Livestock Mortalities and Manure Management Regulation, after the regulation has been in place for five years. That review has never happened, and its now 17 years later. Why not?
Winnipeg Free Press: From Hog Barns to Algae Blooms: The Deadly Connection to Lake Winnipeg’s Algae Crisis
What can you do?
- Support small, ethical producers, particularly those doing free range and regenerative ag.
- Seek out and shop at small markets and restaurants who sell local ag products, and
- Engage with parties and candidates who support sustainable agricultural practices.
The Green Party of Manitoba is working on developing comprehensive Agriculture policy. If you are interested in helping develop these policies, particularly if you are a producer concerned about a more sustainable future, please contact us for more information.