![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776867191_13_default.jpg\")
A map showing the drainage path of the wastewater lagoon as well as the rest of the Crystal Springs colony development submitted as part of the project’s Environmental Act proposal. (Burns Maendel Consulting Engineers Ltd.)<\/p>\n
Residents have raised concerns ranging from the smell, to flood risks and worries the wastewater discharge will deteriorate the health of the already ailing lake.<\/p>\n
‘Lake Winnipeg has reached its limit’<\/p>\n
The pollution coming into the lake is already “humongous,” said Fred Veldnik, who has lived in Silver Harbour for more than three decades.<\/p>\n
“Lake Winnipeg has reached its limit,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Lake Winnipeg is not able to regenerate itself or to heal itself. So, the only way we can help the lake become healthy again is by preventing any more effluent \u2026 from coming into the lake.”<\/p>\n
The hearings before the Manitoba Clean Environment Commission started Tuesday and are set to continue until Thursday.<\/a> They were called after an appeal by the province’s environment minister in September amid public complaints.<\/p>\n The RM of Gimli, which submitted several questions ahead of the hearings, said Willow Creek is home to species highly sensitive to environmental changes and that more than half of the waterway \u2014 about 10 kilometres \u2014 has been classified as a significant fish habitat.<\/p>\n Area residents have also raised concerns about the lagoon discharging more phosphorus to Lake Winnipeg. The nutrient, a byproduct of agricultural activity, is among the main contributors to toxic algal blooms in the lake<\/a>.<\/p>\n “I’ve seen algal blooms that were miles long,” Veldnik said. <\/p>\n “Two years ago, our harbour, [there] was such a thick, thick layer of slime on top of the water. [While kayaking], it slowed you down \u2014 that’s how bad it was.”<\/p>\n The project’s proponents say discharge will occur once or twice a year, trickling over at least two weeks between June 15 and Nov. 1. The period would be outside fish spawning periods, as per provincial licensing terms, they said.<\/p>\n In correspondence from 2024, the proponents say concentrations of constituents such as ammonia or E. coli meet regulations, with about 27 kilograms of phosphorus being released every year, assuming none of it is absorbed by vegetation in a kilometre-long ditch leading to the creek.<\/p>\n On average, Lake Winnipeg received about 7,113 tonnes of phosphorus per year between 1994 and 2023, according to estimates from 2024.<\/a><\/p>\n Matthew Behr, a spokesperson for the colony on the project, declined to comment while the hearings were taking place. He told CBC News late last year the approval process has been “beyond frustrating,” with several postponements halting progress.<\/p>\n Manitoba Environment Minister Mike Moyes said Tuesday he called for the hearing because the government wanted an independent voice to weigh in on the project.<\/p>\n “At the end of the day, we want to make sure that our environment is protected, and that includes all the different watersheds,” he said.<\/p>\n Gimli ‘stalled the conversation’: Armstrong CAO<\/p>\n Crystal Springs filed the wastewater lagoon proposal with the environmental approvals branch in 2023. <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771213813_918_default.jpg\")
Hillside Beach, on the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg, as seen in 2015. Microalgae can clump together, turning into a green mess. (Bert Savard\/CBC)<\/p>\n