ALEXANDRIA, VA—February 23, 2011. The International Lake of the Woods and Rainy River Watershed Task Force is charged by the International Joint Commission (IJC) with making recommendations that address the structures and mechanisms of governance in the Lake of the Woods Watershed as well as priority issues or activities to be addressed by or through such mechanisms by July 15, 2011. IWR team members provide support to the Task Force.
The Task Force will be issuing its interim report on February 24. It will hold meetings April 5–7 with its Citizen Advisory Group and the general public. The interim report will be primarily a factual report describing major issues, authorities, responsibilities, organizations and relevant efforts underway, with initial consideration of possible governance options. The Task Force anticipates issuing a draft final report in May 2011 that takes into account comments received on the interim report and that provides draft recommendations regarding binational governance structures and mechanisms. The Task Force expects to hold additional public meetings in June 2011 prior to issuing a final report with its recommendations to the IJC prior to the July 15 deadline.
More about IWR and the IJC
IWR and the IJC have collaborated on important international studies addressing shared water resources between the U.S. and Canada. IWR personnel led the U.S. contributions to the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Study, which was completed in 2006. IWR is now helping to direct and manage the International Upper Great Lakes Study that is investigating recent declines in water levels in the upper lakes and developing alternative plans for Lake Superior outflow regulation. This effort was facilitated by a Memorandum of Agreements signed by IWR and the IJC in 2006.
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