Lake Winnipeg Foundation (LWF) Grants Program

Grants ranging from $500 to $10,000 to Manitoba nonprofits, local municipalities, businesses, IHEs, and community groups to improve the quality of water in Lake Winnipeg and its watershed.

The Foundation prioritizes projects that address one or more of the Lake Winnipeg Health Plan’s eight actions to reduce nutrient loading:
1. Keeping Water on the Land
2. Conserving the Boreal Forest
3. Setting the Standard for Wastewater Treatment
4. Monitoring the Waterways
5. Managing the Shorelines
6. Promoting Agricultural Water Stewardship
7. Investing in a Clean Water Economy
8. Taking Responsibility

The purpose of the LWF Grants Program is to:
- Contribute to realizing the outcomes of the Lake Winnipeg Health Plan (LWHP)
- Increase collaboration and align collective efforts within the Lake Winnipeg watershed
- Support grassroots initiatives that raise awareness and engage citizens, students and local governments on innovative projects
- Provide seed or matching funds for projects that will leverage partnership contributions from industry, post-secondary institutions or non-governmental organizations.
- Identify and better understand new and emerging issues for Lake Winnipeg and its watershed
- Educate Manitobans on the challenges and opportunities facing this important ecosystem.

The LWF grants committee will place a higher priority on projects that support one or more of the following strategic programs of LWF:

Action 3: Wastewater point sources account for approximately 19% of the total phosphorus loading to the Lake Winnipeg watershed within Manitoba – 11% from the City of Winnipeg and 8% from other municipal sources (Manitoba Water Stewardship, 2006). Some municipalities, particularly bedroom communities, have seen significant growth in population since this data was released over 10 years ago. To address this, and in response to the Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations mandated by the federal government in 2012, many municipalities are making upgrades to their treatment plants or lagoons. LWF will provide small-scale grants to support matching funds for these costly upgrades.

Action 4: Through a network of conservation districts, citizen scientists, educational programs and First Nations communities, LWF is leading a Community-Based Monitoring (CBM) program that uses specific scientific protocols and testing methods for collecting and analyzing water-quality information relevant to the health of Lake Winnipeg and its watershed. This new data set will complement existing monitoring programs being undertaken by governments and academic institutions in the province.
For 2017 – 18, LWF is seeking proposals from education-based groups who can provide leadership to the educational-based monitoring efforts in the province. There is a combination of strong educational monitoring efforts and fledgling efforts around Manitoba. While LWF encourages all levels of water stewardship in students, the Foundation is particularly seeking to fund groups who have the capacity to develop and coordinate a cohesive educational water monitoring program for within province.

Action 6: LWF is currently undertaking a series of interviews with those involved in the agricultural sector in Manitoba to identify gaps and areas for improvements in beneficial management practices (BMPs) on farms. An important topic arising from these interviews is a need for research and demonstration projects for BMPs that will ultimately reduce phosphorus loading to Lake Winnipeg. LWF is interested in funding projects in areas that address the problem of phosphorus reduction to Lake Winnipeg and its watershed through specific BMPs. The proponent must include a plan for peer-to-peer education on the successes or challenges of the project.

Eligible project costs include the following:
- Materials and supplies
- Operating expenses such as travel, field costs, lab testing
- Training costs
- Communications production, printing and distribution
- Equipment lease and, in special circumstances, purchase
- Professional service fees
- Salaries and benefits