Objectives and Alert Levels in the Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Phase I Photo Credit: L. Grim DRAFT REPORT FOR REVIEW Submitted to: International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board Submitted by: Bev Clark, Nolan Baratono, Kelli Saunders Objectives and Alerts Project Team October 15, 2019 Contents Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Phase I/Phase II ......................................................................................................................................... 2 Priorities .................................................................................................................................................... 2 Water Quality Objectives .......................................................................................................................... 3 Alert Levels ................................................................................................................................................ 3 Consultation .............................................................................................................................................. 3 Gap analysis .............................................................................................................................................. 3 Recommendations .................................................................................................................................... 4 1. Overview ................................................................................................................................................... 6 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 6 1.2 Background ......................................................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Project Approach ................................................................................................................................ 7 2.0 Document Review ................................................................................................................................. 10 2.1 Identifying Priorities .......................................................................................................................... 10 2.2 Documents Reviewed ....................................................................................................................... 10 2.3 Summary of Document Priorities ...................................................................................................... 12 Nutrients ............................................................................................................................................. 12 Contaminants ...................................................................................................................................... 12 Aquatic Invasive Species ..................................................................................................................... 13 Erosion ................................................................................................................................................ 13 Climate Change ................................................................................................................................... 13 3.0 Aquatic Ecosystem Health .................................................................................................................... 14 3.1 Applicable Aquatic Ecosystem Health Indicators .............................................................................. 16 3.2 Using Demonstrated Significant Risk to Identify ALs ........................................................................ 21 4.0 Human Health Indicators ...................................................................................................................... 23 4.1 Drinking Water .................................................................................................................................. 23 4.2 Fish Contaminants............................................................................................................................. 23 4.3 Contaminants in Sediments .............................................................................................................. 23 4.4 Contaminants in Groundwater ......................................................................................................... 23 4.5 Algal Toxins ....................................................................................................................................... 23 5.0 Approaches and Lessons Learned from Elsewhere .............................................................................. 24 5.1 The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement ...................................................................................... 24 5.2 Approaches by other IJC Boards outside of the Great Lakes ............................................................ 25 5.3 Summary of Lessons Learned ........................................................................................................... 26 6.0 Feedback from Consultations ............................................................................................................... 26 6.1 Summary of Expert Workshop Feedback .......................................................................................... 26 6.2 Public Stakeholder sessions .............................................................................................................. 28 6.2.1 March Sessions and Webinar ..................................................................................................... 28 6.2.2 Summary from July Sessions: ..................................................................................................... 29 6.2.3 Summary of Feedback from Indigenous Learning Forum .......................................................... 30 6.3 Observations from all Sessions ......................................................................................................... 32 7.0 Assessing Appropriate Boundary Water Segments .............................................................................. 33 7.1 Priorities assigned to boundary water segments ............................................................................. 34 8.0 Potential for Objectives, Alert Levels and/or Narratives to Manage Priority Issues ............................ 36 Nutrients ................................................................................................................................................. 36 Contaminants .......................................................................................................................................... 36 Water Levels/Erosion .............................................................................................................................. 37 Climate Change ....................................................................................................................................... 37 Aquatic Invasive Species ......................................................................................................................... 38 9.0 Recommended Water Quality Objectives and Alert Levels .................................................................. 39 10.0 Gap Analysis ........................................................................................................................................ 40 11.0 Communication and Outreach ............................................................................................................ 43 12.0 Recommendations .......................................................................................................................... 46 13. Next Steps and Phase II ......................................................................................................................... 47 Phase II Tasks .......................................................................................................................................... 47 14. References ............................................................................................................................................ 48 Appendix 1 - Document Review Summary ................................................................................................. 49 Appendix 2 - AEH Indicators that may be applicable to Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed ................. 55 Appendix 3 – Alert Levels for the Rainy River ............................................................................................. 65 Appendix 4 – GLWQA Annex notes ............................................................................................................. 66 Appendix 5 – Detailed Notes and Attendee lists from Consultations ........................................................ 70 Executive Summary This report summarizes the results of the first phase of a project to address the need for Water Quality Objectives and Alert Levels for the Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed. Water Quality Objectives are internationally agreed upon standards, whereas Alert Levels are advisory level triggers that can be brought to the attention of both governments by the International Joint Commission