Hank Venema | Lake Winnipeg
In a wide-ranging interview Hank Venema starts with how we got in to this mess in the first place. If we hadn’t moved heaven and earth (literally) to get water off the prairie as fast as possible, we might not have the same levels of eutrophication in Lake Winnipeg. But there’s no point in blaming our ancestors. Nothing can be done about what was done. Instead, says Venema, who is a water resources engineer with a doctorate in systems design engineering, we have to look forward and innovate.
Hugely expensive engineering projects might not be the answer. Instead, what if we put a price on phosphate and reduced the amount that ends up in the lake. Couple that with ongoing efforts to — essentially — return the prairie to something like its original condition, and we might have the workings of a solution.
Whatever happens, there’s no time to waste. Climate change, an overdue multi-year drought and continued bad practices mean that the future looks dark for the lake.
This is the fourth full interview I am posting as this co-creation continues. Why am I publishing this? I figure that if others listen to what Venema has to say it will help identify the key insights needed to build this story. Let me know what stands out for you.
Don’t miss the earlier interviews with Vicki Burns, Bill Barlow and Les McEwan.
