Southwest Interlake Integrated Watershed Management Plan

The Southwest Interlake Integrated Watershed Management Plan encompasses an area of land in Manitoba’s Interlake that contributes water to Lake Manitoba. The watershed includes all or part of the municipalities of Coldwell, West Interlake, Armstrong, Woodlands, Portage la Prairie, Fisher, Rockwood, and St. Laurent and a population of about 4,400 people. The watershed is about 3,200 square kilometres in size and is characterized by relatively flat ground, scarred with many shallow parallel undulations or ridges oriented in a northwesterly direction, commonly referred to as ridge and swale topography. The West Interlake Watershed Conservation District is leading plan development in partnership with the Province of Manitoba, municipalities, non-government organizations, and watershed residents.

It takes approximately two years to develop an integrated watershed management plan. The timeline on the right illustrates plan development progress.

Once a plan is implemented the water planning authority can publish progress reports.

Timeline

In the development of an integrated watershed management plan the planning team invites a variety of groups to comment on issues important to them in the watershed. A summary of public comments can be found here once consultations have been held. If you are interested in commenting on land and water issues important to you in your watershed, click on the provide a comment tab, above.

Issue Summary

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Once a plan is initiated in an area a memorandum of understanding is developed between the water planning authority and the Province of Manitoba. The planning team then lays out the terms of the plan, including the timeline, budget, and scope of work.

Public consultations are held to better understand the concerns and issues of the watershed. The planning team invites watershed residents through a variety of announcements. If public consultations have occurred, the results of the issues discussed at public consultations are summarized here.

The planning team asks technical experts and relevant stakeholder groups to provide information and issues about the watershed. A significant amount of valuable information is provided by:

Sometimes the technical information is summarized in a separate summary document, and sometimes technical information is summarized with the watershed plan.

Through a series of meetings with representatives from the Conservation District, and a broad range of technical and stakeholder representatives, a draft management plan is developed. Once this plan is reviewed by the public, the water planning authority and the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, an approved plan is published and plan actions are implemented.