Water quality research gets $1.25M funding boost

Winnipeg, MB – The University of Manitoba has received $1.25 million from Manitoba’s provincial government in order to establish a research chair in water quality.

The new research capability was recommended by the Lake Winnipeg Stewardship Board and was also identified in the recent Manitoba Clean Environment Commission’s report on environmental sustainability of the hog sector. Among other things, the funding will help to develop expertise to better understand how nitrogen and phosphorus, the nutrients responsible for algal blooms, are transferred with water from the flat prairie landscape, to adjacent lakes and rivers, and what measures would work best to prevent these issues.

“University of Manitoba researchers are investigating water from virtually every angle, from floods and storms, to droughts and sea ice. Whether they are studying the effects of climate change on aquatic ecosystems, or developing new ways to treat waste water and harness the energy of fast flowing rivers, some of our very best minds are focused on our planet’s most critical resource,” said Dr Emoke Szathmary, president and vice-chancellor, University of Manitoba. “The funding for the establishment of this new research chair in water quality and watershed sciences will fill a gap in current knowledge and allow for the development of new expertise in nitrogen and phosphorus movement – the very real problems that these chemicals cause our waterways.”

The provincial support of $1.25 million will be spread over five years and is being provided by Manitoba Science, Technology, Energy and Mine’s Research and Innovation Fund.