Lake Winnipeg, the tenth largest freshwater lake in the world, hosts a vibrant commercial fishery, provides numerous valuable recreational opportunities, and a stable hydroelectric energy source for the Province of Manitoba. In recent decades however, the frequency of nuisance algal blooms has increased due to increases in nutrient concentrations in the lake, and impacted these uses. In response, several management actions were initiated to restore and protect the lake.

Through the Lake Winnipeg Basin Initiative, Environment Canada and the Province of Manitoba provided significant funding (between 2007 to 2011) for not only new research on the hydrology, ecology, paleo-ecology, and nutrient status of Lake Winnipeg, but also to equip the Motor Vessel Namao with water quality monitoring equipment and a ship-board laboratory to facilitate new research on the lake.

A special issue of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, “Lake Winnipeg: The Forgotten Great Lake,” features scientific findings from some of the research conducted as part of this initiative. Two Environment Canada scientists, Drs. Wassenaar and Yerubandi, took the lead in soliciting and editing this issue, which contains 18 articles that are largely devoted to providing a better understanding of the various aspects of the Lake Winnipeg Basin’s hydrology and ecology, as well as providing some syntheses of existing data and approaches to remediation.

Source: Journal of Great Lakes Research, Special Issue: Lake Winnipeg - The Forgotten Great Lake. Volume 38, Supplement 3, Pages 1–196 (2012). Eds. L.I. Wassenaar, R. Yerubandi:

Contacts: Leonard I. Wassenaar, 306-975-5747, Len.Wassenaar@ec.gc.ca; Ram Yerubandi, 905-336-4785, Ram.Yerubandi@ec.gc.ca | Watershed Hydrology and Ecology Research Division