• About the Board
  Working for a Healthy Lake Region
• Current Board Members
  Dedicated to a Healthy Lake Region
• Upcoming Meetings
  Where and When

About The Board

Working for a Healthy Lake Region

On 27 February 2007, the Honourable Christine Melnick announced the formation of the Lake Manitoba Stewardship Board. Formation of this Board was recommended by the Lake Manitoba Regulation Review Advisory Committee (LMRRAC), which functioned between 2001 and 2003.

The Board accepted its Terms of Reference as follows, modified from those recommended in the LMRRAC Final Report:

1. To establish and maintain an ongoing dialogue with local interests, municipalities and the province regarding the management of Lake Manitoba, Lake Pineimuta, Lake St. Martin, and the Fairford and Dauphin Rivers, to solicit, as required, public input related to these concerns, and to communicate with the public on a regular basis.
2. To communicate with the Minister on an ongoing basis with regard to water levels on Lake Manitoba, Lake Pineimuta, and Lake St. Martin, including the operation and maintenance of the Fairford River Water Control Structure and the associated fish ladder, and to recommend appropriate seasonal flows to be maintained in the Fairford and Dauphin Rivers insofar as this is reasonably possible.
3. To advocate long-term monitoring and research on water levels and the health of Lake Manitoba, Lake Pineimuta, and Lake St. Martin, including coastal marshlands along these water bodies, to be carried out by the appropriate agencies and report on the results once every three years to the Minister. This should include all aspects of water quality, fisheries, wildlife, agriculture, recreation, shoreline erosion, marshland rejuvenation, impacts on First Nations and other communities, and such other matters as deemed advisable by the Committee or by the Minister.
4. To investigate, and if considered advisable, recommend remedial projects to enhance all aspects of the general health of the lakes, associated marshlands and associated resources and resource uses, as outlined above. In this regard, the Committee shall actively encourage jointly funded private sector / government projects.
5. To appoint a member to the Portage Diversion Advisory Committee to ensure that Lake Manitoba interests are taken into consideration in the operation of the Diversion.
6. Review fishery management plans according to the following criteria in order of importance: a) biological sustainability, b) economic viability, and c) social fairness and community benefits. In doing so a more reasoned and fair approach can be developed (i.e. with supporting data / information and fair public values incorporated).