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Description:
The Lake of the Woods Control Board Act (LWCB) created the Lake of the Woods Control Board (LWCB) and defined the duties and mandate of that Board.

The LWCB is a Canadian board consisting of four members, each with an alternate, who represent Canada (one member), Ontario (two members), and Manitoba (one member). Appointments are made by order-in-council of the appropriate government and each appointee is required to be a professional engineer.

The Board is responsible for the regulation of water levels in Lake of the Woods and Lac Seul and of flows in the Winnipeg and English Rivers downstream of these lakes to their junction. In addition, when the level of Lac Seul exceeds certain specified levels, the Board controls the diversion of water from Lake St. Joseph (Albany System) into Lac Seul.

Similar Lake of the Woods Control Board Acts exist in the statutes of Ontario (1922, 1958) and Manitoba (1958). The Acts are in turn based on a Canada-United States Treaty (Convention and Protocol, 1925), necessary because Lake of the Woods is an international boundary water.

There are no regulations per se. However, orders of the Board may be filed in one of several named courts and may be enforced in the same manner as judgements of those courts.

Contact:

• Member for Canada, Lake of the Woods Control Board (LWCB)
  Director, Enforcement
  National Programs
  Environmental Protection Service
  Environment Canada
  Telephone: (819) 953-1523
  
• Director, National Water Issues
  Ecosystems and Environmental Resources
  Environmental Conservation Service
  Environment Canada
  351 St-Joseph Boulevard,
  Hull, Quebec
  K1A 0H3
  Telephone: (819) 953-4007
  Fax: (819) 994-0237
  John.Cooper@ec.gc.ca
  

Links:

• Department of Justice: Lake of the Woods Control Board Act
  Complete text of the act
• An Act to amend The Lake of the Woods Control Board Act
  http://www3.ec.gc.ca/EnviroRegs/ENG/Documents/LWCBb_ENG.cfm
• Lake of the Woods Control Board Act
  http://www3.ec.gc.ca/EnviroRegs/ENG/Documents/LWCBa_ENG.cfm
• Fresh Water Website
  http://www.ec.gc.ca/water/