Lake Winnipeg: Second Largest Watershed In Canada

Wikapedia.org says that The lake is shared by the province of Ontario to the north in Canada, the states of Minnesota to the west, Wisconsin and Michigan to the south in the United States. It is generally considered the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. It is the world's third-largest freshwater lake by volume and the largest by volume in North America.

Winnipogo is the Lake Monster of Lake Winnipegosis in Manitoba, Canada. The first sighting of the creature dates back to 1909, when a report of a “huge creature traveling at a speed of about two miles per hour,” was made by Valintine Mackay. Sightings since have described the creature has being over twenty feet long and serpent-like in appearance. One sighting, in 1935, even reported the creature had a horn on its head.

There are unwanted visitors threatening to make their home in the Great Lakes. Originally coming from Asia, the fish immigrated to the Mississippi River eventually making their way to the Great Lakes. Let’s take a look at the problem, the causes and effects, and the possible solutions of the Asian Carp Invasion.

Companies have the technology and the knowledge to divert or sell water in a way that is safe on the environment. Part of the Canadian population has been misled to believe that Canada will not have enough water for its residents if it sells water to the United States. This is a myth. Toronto MP Dennis Mills says, “Many people just don’t understand the issue. They have this idea that the Americans are going to build the biggest pipeline the world has ever seen and drain the Great Lakes dry.” There are many proposed diversion schemes that would have minimal effect on ecology. The water diversion scheme in Manitoba is an example of this. It proposes that an insulated pipeline be stationed at the mouth of the Nelson River just before it empties into Hudson Bay. This scheme would allow the Nelson River to run its full, natural course and only divert 1% of the fresh water that is currently being emptied into Hudson Bay. The Canadian people have being misled that the world is going to run out of water. According to cbc.ca, the amount of water on the earth has stayed the same for the last four billion years, and will not change. Canadians have enough water especially compared to many other countries. According to The Globe and Mail, Maude Barlow has said “…31 countries are facing water stress and scarcity and more than a billion people lack adequate access to clean drinking. By the year 2025, as much as two-thirds of the world’s population will be

As well as pollution, invasive species are damaging the lake ecosystems and food chains, made fragile by pollution and overfishing. The introduction of a new species throws off the balance of food chains. Some common invasive species include the sea lamprey, Asian carp, and zebra mussels, among many others. Zebra mussels have dramatically influenced and affected stable food chains by reducing the amount of zooplankton and phytoplankton. This presents a problem, as fish mostly feed on the drifters, and so they go hungry and die, leaving no food for larger fish to prey on. In addition to underwater disruption, it affects us as well, but only slightly. Plankton and algae especially are the most productive aquatic producers of oxygen, and by the decreasing population, we lose oxygen as well. The sea lamprey is also a problem, though it is not so influential to ecosystems as the zebra mussel.

One environmental issue that the great lakes watershed has been exposed to is invasive species. An invasive species is any organism that is foreign to an ecosystem and causes harm (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2016). In ordered to be classified as foreign they do not have to be from a different country but they just must be a non-native to an established ecosystem. Some of the species travel at their own will but they primarily spread through human activities unintentionally. As we import and export goods, or travel, some uninvited species may ride along and travel to new places. Organisms can be stowed away in ships or products like wood. Some ornamental plants may

What is an invasive species? An invasive species is a species not native to an area, in this case not native to the Great Lakes area. A non-native species is a species that originally was not in a certain location but was brought there and causes a lot of damage. An invasive species also is a great danger to the environment and can cause damage to humans, plants, and animals. In Illinois and the Great Lakes area there are more than 180 invasive and non-native species. That means a lot of damage is made into our environment. One particular invasive species is Agrilus planipennis, more commonly known as emerald ash borer.

Introduced species are seldom a positive addition to an ecosystem as they cause great stress and harm to the populations of native species. Many introduced species become invasive as they have no natural predators in their new environment, therefore they thrive, and crowd out all other animals. Some examples of invasive species in Ontario waters include the round goby, zebra mussels, eurasian ruffe, goldfish, northern snakehead, rainbow smelt, and rudd, to name a few. A great example to show how destructive an introduced fish can be is the asian carp, this species spreads very aggressively and it is considered the greatest threat to aquatic ecosystems in Ontario. These fish grow to be very large in size, up to 40 kg and 1 meter long. The asian

The Mackenzie River Basin covers 1.8 million square kilometres, making it Canada’s largest river system and home to nearly 400,000 people with 15% of those belonging to indigenous communities. It is a valuable resource that supports rich aquatic life, wildlife, vegetation and human life.

Ontario's many lakes, rivers, and streams played a central role in the province's history and development. For Aboriginal peoples and the early European settlers, the lakes and rivers were a means of transportation and a source of food. Waterways determined the patterns of settlement as well as the patterns of industrialization. More than 80% of Ontarians get their drinking water from the lakes. The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin supports nearly more than 75% of Canada’s manufacturing, and a third of the country's employment in agriculture and food processing.

The overall land of the Interior Plains slopes gently downwards from the west to the east. Below the surface of the Interior Plains are mineral deposits, the swamps that are on the edge of the ancients seas that once covered Saskatchewan produced plants that were eventually changed to coal which is mined today. A lot of the Interior Plains is marked up by glaciations, the glaciers left deposits that produced rounded, gently rolling landscape. The glaciers melted water formed a large lake, when the land rose the water from the ancient lake drained into the ocean and what is left of that large ancient lake are smaller lakes known as lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, Winnipegosis , and Cedar

For years, there has been debate over who has access to the water in the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes provide about 20 percent of the world’s freshwater resources and many areas would like to use that water for various purposes. Water is also becoming a valuable resource, with many areas lacking the access to it necessary for their area’s needs. Because of this, lawmakers passed a compact in 2008 that was designed to protect the Great Lakes against pressure from other States to withdraw water (Kalsness, 2011). A compact is an agreement between states or nations that bind them to whatever they agreed upon. This compact makes sure that areas outside of the Great Lakes region do not have access to the water. Despite this compact, some want to use the Great Lakes to pipe water to other states that do not have the same natural resources. Proponents of this piping say that is gives water to areas that need it and that it will provide additional income to the area (Cauchon, 2006). Opponents say that piping would go against water conservation and environmental protection as well as water management. They also say that it is a natural resource that belongs to the area and should not be taken away to other areas of the country (Dempsey, 2008). Currently, the debate continues about the correct use of the resource of the Great Lakes.

In Winnipeg their summers are short and warm, and in they experience large amounts of snow in their winters They experience approximately 100 cm per a year of snowfall from November through April. Winnipeg has the world’s 10th largest freshwater lake called Winnipeg Lake. It experiences tourism, recreation, commercial and sport fisheries, and to generate hydroelectricity. The lake is home to aquatic life, per a year the lake experiences more than 800 fishers.

Influence on ecosystems range from human causes like the bulldozing of a forest to natural causes like a fire or a flood.  In recent times, the introduction and spread of invasive species has transformed native communities rapidly and, in some cases, created irreversible damages.  In the Earth’s history, changes have often occurred in the ecosystems.  For example, glaciers and the retreat of glaciers cause wide-spread changes.  However, although change is a constant in ecosystems, animals and habitats often cannot adapt to the rapid alterations of non-natural stresses.  Harm to the environment from the introduction of invasive species occurs through changes in the habitat and declines in the native species.  Invasive species

Pollution, invasive species, global warming; these are all aspects that affect 21% of the freshwater system in the world. The five Great Lakes and their surrounding land; Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Erie provide fresh drinking water for millions of people across the United States and Canada. The Great Lakes basin, provides fishing, hunting, and other recreational activities to the more than 33 million people living around basin of the Great lakes.