The Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium (LWRC) Inc.was founded in August 1998 to coordinate scientific research on Lake Winnipeg following evidence of water quality deterioration related to the 1997 Red River flood. The LWRC was incorporated in Manitoba in 2001 and received charitable status in 2008. Membership in the LWRC has grown to 32 agencies representing various government and university departments, and corporate and other groups.

Scientific evidence accumulated over the last 70 years now reveals that Lake Winnipeg is approaching a state of deterioration that may affect ecosystem sustainability.Significant changes in water transparency, biological species composition, productivity, and sediment chemistry indicate that the lake is on a trajectory of progressive eutrophication not unlike that seen in the lower Laurentian Great Lakes during the 1960s.Chronological Research History - The brief research history of Lake Winnipeg is outlined.

Stresses on the lake are increasing and continued scientific attention to the conditions in the lake is essential to identify and quantify chemical inputs, organisms and processes and to determine their fate in and effects on the lake ecosystem.

Through the leasing of the M.V. Namao, the LWRC provided on-lake access for federal, provincial and university investigators for a 3 year period to examine temporal and spatial variability of the chemical, physical and biological parameters of Lake Winnipeg. Support to the LWRC for the leasing of the Namao was provided by Manitoba Hydro, the provincial and federal governments and private funding. 65 lake-wide stations were sampled per survey.