The Water Innovation Centre (WIC)

Water is an essential and yet critically stressed global resource. There is an urgent need to link markets and environmental technologies with community-based basin management.

The Water Innovation Centre's first priority project is the sustainable management of the Lake Winnipeg Basin.

Under the leadership of Dr. Henry David (Hank) Venema (Director of Natural and Social Capital Program), IISD's Water Innovation Centre (WIC) team is working together with regional, national and international partners to find innovative solutions for water security (including quality, quantity and access) through research on and development of management solutions for the Lake Winnipeg watershed.

Not constrained by jurisdictional boundaries or limited mandates, the WIC team has excellent relationships with local, regional, national and international organizations to leverage strong partnerships to build solutions that balance social, economic and environmental needs within the Lake Winnipeg Basin. This kind of collaboration is designed to produce public health, economic, and climate change adaptation benefits and opportunities, such as more reliable runoff for hydro power production, reduced flooding impacts, resilience to drought, and improved recreation and tourism.

WIC's contribution to a Strategic Water Management Plan for the Lake Winnipeg Basin will be the enabling platform built on a regional bioeconomy concept, where basic building blocks come from renewable resources. Within the Lake Winnipeg Basin, these include native prairie grasses, wetland plants and trees, which replenish themselves through ecological cycles and environmentally friendly management practices. When encouraged, these cycles and practices can and will reduce nutrient loading in the interconnected water bodies. Ultimately, reduced nutrient loading will, in turn, strengthen Manitoba's agriculture and heighten the basin's resilience to both drought and flood.

Over time, the bioeconomy will also generate new value chains for agricultural wastes and ecological services. In addition, it will contribute to the well-being of communities within the Lake Winnipeg Basin, effective management of natural resources, improved agricultural techniques and a sustainable future for generations to come. Ultimately, the lessons the WIC team learns in the Lake Winnipeg Basin can be adapted and shared with basins around the globe that face similar and complex challenges around watershed management.

For more information, please visit IISD's Water Innovation Centre website.