Lake of the Woods Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Report

The greater Lake of the Woods Watershed falls on the border of the USA and Canada. Though the majority of the watershed is in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, approximately 730,000 acres fall in the northernmost part of Minnesota. The primary focus of this report is on data collected and assessed in the Minnesota portion of the watershed. The watershed's namesake, the Lake of the Woods takes up about 41% of the total watershed area in Minnesota, with 71% of the land total in wetlands and lakes. Another 20% of the land is in agriculture, mostly found along the southern lake shore of the Lake of the Woods. An impaired waters study is currently underway to better understand the nature and extent of algae blooms in Lake of the Woods and develop appropriate restoration strategies. The Minnesota portion of Lake of the Woods was declared impaired in 2008, due to exceedances of eutrophication criteria (high amounts of nutrients and algae). This work is being conducted with cooperation from numerous partner agencies and organizations, including the International Joint Commission's new Lake of the Woods Watershed Board.