Monday, March 29, 2010

Lake of the Woods Water Quality Study

A new water quality project is being launched for Lake of the Woods.

A number of First Nations communities around the lake are working together on the project.

Spokesperson Ryan Haines says they're now trying to secure the necessary funding.

"Funding from Lake of the Woods Sustainability Foundation would roll out this fall," says Haines. "This coming winter would be spent looking at existing water quality data, looking at aerial and satellite photos identifying high priority areas."

Haines says also they're hoping to secure funding from municipal and federal sources.

Local Projects Tracked

Just two-hundred jobs have been created in the Rainy River district through the provincial government's stimulus program.

Thrity-five projects received just over $6-million last year.

The figures are released in a new government website intended to track the progress of infrastructure projects.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton says he's not that surprised by the job numbers.

"A lot of the capital, so-called stimulus projects announced as a way of fighting back against the recession in fact don't create a lot of jobs," says Hampton. "That's the just some of the choices that were made."

The province's site also indicates that as of October, about a third of the district's projects had not yet started.