L A K E O F T H E W O O D S WAT E R S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y F O U N D AT I O N
Nine-year partnership with our neighbours has built a strong cross border connection Put a plan in place. Ensure there's enough science and management expertise. Unite and coordinate actions bi-nationally—communities, researchers, and policy makers. That’s our mission. BY TODD SELLERS, LOWWSF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & KELLI SAUNDERS, INTERNATIONAL WATERSHED COORDINATOR
In 2012, the Foundation had a crazy notion. What if we had a coordinator for our watershed—someone to keep all the agencies and groups on both sides of the international border collaborating and working towards common goals for the health of Lake of the Woods? We floated the idea of a position hosted at the Foundation and shared internationally by the agencies working on Lake of the Woods. Key partners bought into this concept and the International Watershed Coordination Program (IWCP) was launched, with the support of the International Joint Commission, the (then) Manitoba Water Stewardship Department, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and the Koochiching Soil and Water Conservation District. Several years ago, Environment and Climate Change Canada joined in support of the program as well.
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Environment Lake of the Woods Area News Fall 2021
For nine years now, the IWCP Coordinator, Kelli Saunders, has served as the “glue” connecting and supporting groups working at local, regional, and international levels, keeping all of us working together. Key functions include assisting the IJC Board with special projects, providing secretariat coordination for the International Multi-Agency Arrangement—a collaboration of research and management agencies, and supporting civic engagement in stewardship activities across our international watershed. Little did we know that this would grow for the next nine years to reach thousands of people around the basin. Much of the creativity, funding and drive came from our neighbours in Minnesota who knew that the work they were doing on watershed protection had to include players from Canada.
