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Ag in brief: Manitoba introduces first formal nutrient reduction targets

This past August, Manitoba’s minister of environment and climate change Tracy Schmidt announced the province’s first-ever formal nutrient reduction targets.

The targets fall under the province’s Water Protection Act, which aims to establish a benchmark to guide and assess progress in reducing nutrient levels in water bodies such as Lake Winnipeg. The regulations include specific nutrient concentration targets for sections of Lake Winnipeg, as well as loading targets for tributaries that feed into the lake. Targets for Lake Winnipeg’s north and south basins and the narrows of Lake Winnipeg are 0.05 milligrams of phosphorus per litre and 0.75 milligrams of nitrogen per litre. Loading targets vary for different rivers and tributaries.

Schmidt said in a statement that the establishment of these targets “will help Manitoba’s collective water quality efforts by guiding future nutrient reduction activities and best management practices, identifying priorities and helping track progress and outcomes over time.”

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