Meet Roy and Carole Robinson: they raise sustainable, grass-fed Scottish highlander beef and grow seasonal vegetables on their farm near Smiths Falls, near the banks of the Rideau River.
The Robinsons founded Seanic Farms in 2003. As they've transitioned the old, dormant farmland into to a more environmentally-friendly operation, they've made great use of the RVCA's landowner stewardship programs, including our Rural Clean Water Grant program.
Conservation authorities, at their core, are tasked with protecting people and property from flooding and other hazards along a waterway. Our planning and regulation staff review development applications that impact wetlands, rivers and other waterways, or that involve flood plains and unstable slopes. We continually update and create new hazard maps to make sure development is out of the way of rising waters, and we work hard to keep residents informed about flood risks.
But we also rely on our community partners to help us reach out to residents.
A new batch of butternut seedlings have been sent into the world to help pull the endangered tree back from the brink – but this spring's lot may have been the last.
Landowners flocked to the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority's specialized cold storage facility on Dilworth Road this spring to pick up their baby butternut trees, carefully grown at the Ferguson Forestry Centre from resilient seeds harvested across Eastern Ontario.
Butternut trees in Canada and the US have been decimated by the butternut canker, an incurable fungal disease scientists believe originated in Asia.
Like any good legacy, there comes a time when you must take a deep breath and leave it in the hands of the next generation.
That's precisely what Ashton farmers Arn and Jan Snyder will do this summer after 32 years of painstakingly sculpting their land into an environmental haven for people, animals and trees.
So, you're building a new dock. But which kind is best? What's going to require the least amount of maintenance, protect the shoreline, get quick approval and still allow you to live that decadent #docklife you deserve this summer?
Answer: the floating dock. *cue choir of angels*
Waterfront living can be so relaxing: always mowing the lawn, raking weeds out of your swimming area and stepping in goose poop...Wait, what?! That's not what owning a waterfront property is all about. But for too many people, that's the reality.
Cottages can become second homes, with all the annoying lawn work and maintenance that comes with them. But it doesn't have to be this way. With a few tweaks, you can get on the path to "the good side" and a more natural waterfront property. So: which side are you on? Scroll over the purple flags to learn how to turn your waterfront property a natural oasis.
With historic flooding in 2017 and again in 2019, questions abound about what is being done - or not done - to avoid future floods.
And it has sparked a conversation about the role of conservation authorities.
May 3, 2019 - As thousands of Canadian students walked out of class to protest climate policies on May 3, a group of Nepean High School students were going back to basics.
Shovels in hand, the 14-person crew braved wet weather to plant 500 trees at MacSkimming Outdoor Education Centre in Cumberland. Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) provided the seedlings and taught the students how and where to plant them.
