Newsletter

The following article is from an archived newsletter. See our Shared Waters newsletter.

Reaching Out in Rainy-Lake of the Woods Basin

Summer flooding.

The IJC’s Rainy-Lake of the Woods board has new members, new advisory groups, and more frequent meetings with the public. We’re even on the radio. We’ve come long way since the days of once-a-year outreach.

Back in the 20th century, one Canadian and U.S. representative each from the International Rainy River Water Pollution Board and the International Rainy Lake Board of Control would visit the area once a year to hold a short public meeting. It seemed that no one attending knew who the representatives were. Few people would come to a meeting unless they were concerned about too much or too little lake or river water.

Outreach is much different in the 21st century thanks to the foresight of commissioners to expand the IJC’s presence in the basin. That expansion included the appointment of local members to previous boards and in 2013 the development of a newly expanded International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board (IRLWWB) and associated committees.

About 50 citizen volunteers that reside within the Canadian and U.S. portions of the watershed are now doing IJC-related work to protect water quality and communicate with the citizens they represent.

The IJC and IRLWWB have established a Citizens Advisory Group of more than 20 Canadian and U.S. residents to help the Board understand issues in the basin. Additionally, the IJC and Board created an Industrial Advisory Group of 20 Canadian and U.S. citizens from 10 industrial sectors to help them understand water-related issues with industry. These two groups are engaged with the public, governments, business organizations, and nonprofit groups.

The Board holds annual basin meetings with about 30 international natural resources managers. It also holds well-publicized annual basin meetings for the public. Board members and commissioners are engaged with citizens in the basin through other public meetings, field trips and meetings of watershed organizations.

During heavy rain this summer, Board members and IJC officials met with mayors and emergency services managers throughout the watershed to discuss flooding and response efforts.

There were meetings with the Koochiching County Board of Commissioners in Minnesota, the towns of Fort Frances and Rainy River in Ontario, and in Baudette and Warroad, Minnesota.

Summer flooding. Credit: Lee Grim.Summer flooding. Credit: Lee Grim.

Board members and commissioners also are committed to hearing from First Nations, Tribes and Metis in the basin. The Commission has appointed representatives from those groups to the new International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board. Board members have developed a new committee to organize meetings with all of the First Nations, Metis, and Tribes in the watershed to further engage them in understanding their traditional environmental knowledge.

A Water Levels Committee (WLC) was established to work with managers controlling the dams that regulate water levels and flows in the Rainy and Namakan basins.

The Committee is communicating management actions at the Fort Frances/International Falls and Kettle Falls dams to the public. That includes occasional news releases and radio spots four times a week on a local station, KGHS-AM in International Falls, Minnesota.

The radio spots are done during the spring freshet and ice breakup and unusually high and low water level discharge periods from the dams. This responds to a request from the companies managing the dams and citizens upstream and downstream.


Taken June 2013 at the Northernaire Houseboats docks, on Rainy Lake’s Jackfish Bay. Credit: Lee Grim.

A photo taken June 2013 at the Northernaire Houseboats docks, on Rainy Lake’s Jackfish Bay. Credit: Lee Grim.

Rainy River and basin lake residents have concerns about protecting their riverfront and lakefront property from rapid rises in levels. Recreational users are concerned about safe travel on ice and protecting winter fish houses and docks when the ice breaks up. Sturgeon and walleye spawning can be adversely impacted by excessively high and low water levels and erratic lows can have negative impacts on fish movements. People need to be prepared for potential flooding of property and river communities.

The Board and its advisory groups will continue to develop effective ways to keep the public informed through the IRLWWB website, the Lake of the Woods Control Board website, an updated media outlet contact list, and emails.

 A photo from a meeting called with local residents in June 2013 over concerns about high water levels. Credit: Lee Grim.
A photo from a meeting called with local residents in June 2013 over concerns about high water levels. Credit: Lee Grim.

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