Brewer Park Pond Restoration Project

From October to December 2014 the landlocked Brewer Park Pond and former artificial swimming hole was reconnected to the main channel of the Rideau River. The newly connected pond boasts increased biodiversity with the creation of a new, vibrant wetland and pond with shoreline plantings, breeding bird habitat, amphibian habitat, turtle nesting beds and basking logs. The pond will provide improved spawning, nursery, rearing and feeding habitat for the local fish community in the Rideau all year round. This part of the Rideau River is home smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, yellow perch, northern pike, walleye and muskellunge.

Project Highlights:

16,000 square metres of new, functioning wetland and fish habitat in the heart of the City of Ottawa
1,000 truckloads of soil removed to contour pond into more productive habitat
120 community volunteers helped plant over 1,600 trees, shrubs and aquatic plants in and around the pond
8 weeks of construction from October to December 2014
Numerous basking logs, root wads and log piles installed as habitat for turtles, fish, amphibians

Ecological benefits:

Reconnected pond allows fish species year-round access in and out of the pond into the main river
Eliminates the potential for fish kills as a result of low oxygen conditions in the pond over winter and summer months
Altered elevations creates conditions suitable for more diverse aquatic vegetation
New functional spawning, nursery, rearing and food supply habitat created in the restored wetland for fish in the adjacent reach of the Rideau River
Provides new and enhanced winter and summer refuge areas for fish
Increased biodiversity.
Enhanced wetland improves water quality in the Rideau River