March 25, 2025: MB Branch Webinar: Empowering Communities Through Data: Advancing Climate and Water Management in the Lake Winnipeg Basin

Time: March 25, 2025 12pm CST

Presenter Name: Claire Herbert

Position Title: Head, Digital Strategy, Canadian Watershed Information Network (CanWIN)

Title of Presentation: Empowering Communities Through Data: Advancing Climate and Water Management in the Lake Winnipeg Basin

Global climate change is worsening threats to freshwater systems, including nutrient pollution and invasive species, which are vital to human and animal health. In Manitoba, the Lake Winnipeg Basin is part of Canada’s second-largest watershed, but there is a lack of centralized access to both historical and current western freshwater and climate related science that could help communities respond to environmental changes. The Canadian Watershed Information Network (CanWIN) acts as a centralized, collaborative data-sharing platform, supporting the ethical sharing of climate and environmental information, providing a more inclusive data collection, and sharing environment and empowering communities with access to reliable western science they can use as part of their watershed and climate management strategies to advocate for better water management practices, demand accountability and push for policies that address issues relevant to them.