Many remedies for eutrophication lie on land via interventions that alter management of agricultural systems. We work to advance our process-based understanding of nutrient transport, including model representation, and generating science to inform pivotal decisions, such as the choice of Beneficial (or Best) Management Practices (BMPs). This is our most active area of work and includes efforts to understand solutions on land that can help support improved water quality, without sacrificing agricultural productivity.

We are committed to outreach on water quality and have created the Agricultural Nutrients and Water Quality website that details some of our ongoing work and advice for water quality solutions.

Lake Winnipeg is one of Canada's most ecologically and economically significant lakes. The Lake Winnipeg Basin drains nearly one million km² of agriculturally dominated land across four Canadian provinces, four American states, and more than a hundred Indigenous Nations. The lake supports a $110 million tourism and recreation industry and a $25 million commercial and sport fishing industry.

Nutrients and other contaminants from across the basin are contributing to deteriorating water quality. In recent years, excessive nutrient loading has driven increases in the frequency and severity of harmful cyanobacteria blooms in Lake Winnipeg.

Project

This project is funded by the Canada Water Agency (CWA) under the Lake Winnipeg Freshwater Ecosystem Initiative, titled: Building Consensus on Water Quality Interventions in the Lake Winnipeg Basin.

Our major goal is to coalesce expert knowledge on beneficial (or best) management practices (BMPs) for phosphorus management in the Lake Winnipeg Basin. Research is currently ongoing.

This project was recently featured in University of Saskatchewan News. Read more about it here.

Insights So Far

Phase 1

Phase 1 of this project uses the Delphi method—a structured process of iterative surveys designed to solicit expert consensus on the efficacy of BMPs and implementation strategies. Respondents must have expertise related to agricultural nutrient management and/ or water quality in the prairie region, and we invited respondents spanning producers, government staff and researchers, watershed groups, and academic researchers to participate. Respondents have helped us define a draft framework, which defines attributes of a successful BMP in the region and highlights the critical importance of local context in prescribing the right BMPs. Emerging themes span:

Along with highlighting the importance and critical nature of local context, respondents have also generated a set of BMPs likely to have the greatest impact across the region (results are pending on this final list!).

Our final steps for this phase of the survey work will focus on policy, and ensuring we have sufficient feedback to generate key recommendations regarding implementation.

Phase 2

Phase 2 builds on Phase 1 and focuses on characterizing how experts understand nutrient transport and interventions for limiting nutrient runoff. Through interviews, we will work with experts to develop Fuzzy-logic Cognitive Maps (FCMs)—a structured process to capturing how people understand the movement of water and phosphorus through the landscapes they manage. Allowing us to better understand select BMPs and their impacts as perceived by diverse perspectives across the basin. We are aiming to launch interviews in the spring of 2026.

Communications and outreach

Through this work, it is clear there’s a real interest and energy to coordinate action, and a need for tools and workshops to do this. We’re starting to think about workshops, and building a group to help advise on next steps for BMP science and BMP communications across the region.

Contacts

Please reach out if you are interested in this or related research.

• Dr. Helen Baulch
• Richard Helmle