Lake Winnipeg: The forgotten great lake

Lake Winnipeg is the tenth largest freshwater lake in the world. The lake hosts a vibrant commercial fishery, provides numerous valuable recreational opportunities and a stable hydroelectric energy source for the Province of Manitoba. However in the recent decades, the frequency of nuisance algal blooms has increased due to increases in nutrient concentrations in the lake. In response, several management actions were initiated to restore and protect the lake. More recently, the Government of Canada in partnership with the Province of Manitoba initiated the Lake Winnipeg Basin Initiative (LWBI) and committed a portion of the funding to conduct new fundamental and targeted research in the lake and its watersheds. This special issue features some of the research conducted as part of this initiative. The 18 articles in this issue are largely devoted to providing a better understanding of the various aspects of Lake Winnipeg's hydrology and ecology, as well as providing some syntheses of existing data and approaches to remediation.