Media Release
September 11, 2017
Mississippi-Rideau Staff Meet with Local Businesses Owners
MISSISSIPPI-RIDEAU REGION, September 11, 2017 — Staff from the Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Region (MRSPR) successfully met with 61 business owners in the communities of Westport, Montague, North Grenville and Mississippi Mills this summer to discuss chemical products that could pose a risk to four municipal drinking water systems. Business owners were welcoming and helpful — allowing staff to better understand the chemicals that are being used in wellhead protection areas. MRSPR staff completed this work on behalf of the local municipalities who are striving to meet the requirements of the Ontario Clean Water Act. These outreach projects promote the long-term…
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CITY OF OTTAWA AND MUNICIPALITY OF NORTH GRENVILLE, August 21, 2017 — Members of the public are invited to an upcoming open house to review hazard maps. The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) has completed two hazard mapping studies for the Rideau River: Hogs Back to Kars and Kars to Burritts Rapids. These studies update existing mapping in some areas and new mapping in others. Both Rideau River studies look at identifying two main types of hazards along these stretches of the watercourse: flooding and slope stability. The mapping will be used by the City of Ottawa and the Municipality…
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August 10, 2017
Dollars Available to Plant Trees — Free Site Visits
Money is available to landowners interested in planting trees. The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority offers private landowners tree planting programs that help them get technical advice, planting plans and funding for trees. “We have numerous community-minded partners providing funding to projects to help reduce landowner costs,” says Scott Danford, RVCA Forestry Program Manager. “We offer planting programs that make it easy and affordable for landowners.” To be eligible, landowners need at least one acre of land and are willing to plant a minimum of 500 trees. If you have the space, RVCA can help get trees growing on your land…
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August 09, 2017
Wet Weather in Most of the Rideau Watershed but Record Rain and Flooding in North Gower
On January 17, 2017 the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority downgraded the Drought status in the watershed from “Moderate,” which had been carried over from a dry year in 2016, to “Minor.” The “Minor” status was kept in place because of uncertainty about groundwater conditions that couldn’t be checked until spring. The “Minor” status was removed on April 19 after three months of above normal precipitation that went a long way to recharging groundwater aquifers. Since February, rainfall totals each month have been an average of 1.65 times normal. It is not unusual for there to be above normal amounts of…
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Ottawa South residents and guests can enjoy the soothing sights and sounds of nature along the newly upgraded Chapman Mills Conservation Area trails and boardwalk. Dignitaries and special guests gathered at the site today to celebrate and help with the installation of the final pieces of wooden boardwalk. Owned by the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA), Chapman Mills is an exceptional example of conservation parkland with river shoreline, wetland and flood plain areas that are unique and vital to our local community. “Chapman Mills is one of Ottawa’s most ecologically significant natural areas,” said Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) Chair…
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July 18, 2017
RVCA City Stream Watch Volunteers Celebrated
OTTAWA, July 19, 2017 — Six of Rideau Valley Conservation Authority’s (RVCA) biggest City Stream Watch volunteers were recognized in June with the presentation of Ontario Volunteer Service Awards. The Ontario Volunteer Service Awards recognize volunteers for providing committed and dedicated service to an organization. Congratulations to Sidney Arnold, Rebecca Cameron, Bruce Douglas Clarke, Francois Yvon Deslauriers, Peter Melvin and Peter Stewart-Burton. These six representatives regularly give their time to monitor and restore the health of Ottawa’s city streams through the City Stream Watch Program. “We are grateful for their time and devotion to the program,” says Rosario Castanon Escobar, City…
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How healthy is the Jock River? Readers can learn all about it in the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority’s (RVCA) Jock River Subwatershed Report. This information-loaded report summarizes the subwatershed’s health by looking at four indicators: forests, wetlands, shorelines and water quality. This is the second subwatershed report for the Jock River and compares baseline information collected from 2004 to 2015. Changes are small, but understanding how to prevent cumulative long-term changes is essential. The Jock River starts in the lush headwater wetlands in Beckwith and Montague Townships near Franktown. It then flows on through rich agricultural lands in the former municipalities of…
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The Mississippi-Rideau Drinking Water Source Protection (MRDWSP) staff will be meeting with land and business owners this summer in the communities of Almonte, Kemptville, Merrickville, Montague, Smiths Falls and Westport who may be using chemicals that could pose a risk to the municipal drinking water systems.The Mississippi-Rideau Drinking Water Source Protection (MRDWSP) staff will be meeting with land and business owners this summer in the communities of Almonte, Kemptville, Merrickville, Montague, Smiths Falls and Westport who may be using chemicals that could pose a risk to the municipal drinking water systems. This work is being done by MRDWSP staff on…
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June 20, 2017
RVCA Plants Over 275,000 Trees This Spring!
The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) is excited to announce that over 275,000 trees were planted this spring. RVCA and partners are well on the way to planting 6.5 million trees by 2020! RVCA’s private landowner tree planting program available throughout eastern Ontario, is the perfect way to get the direction, planting plan and any available incentive funding for reforesting projects. In cases where landowners plant over 2,000 trees, RVCA works with a number of partners (Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, City of Ottawa, Forests Ontario and local business) to keep costs as low as $0.15 per tree. Landowners…
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June 19, 2017
Work to Begin on Hutton Creek Wetland Restoration
In early July the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, with the support of many partners, will take the first steps towards the restoration of the Hutton Creek Wetland. With the successful decommissioning of the Motts Mills Dam and its replacement with a new earthen berm water control structure, it is now time to turn activities towards restoring the wetland. Once a popular location for hunting and other water activities, the Provincially Signi cant Wetland has slowly been choked out by massive cattail growth. Only 10 percent of the wetland remains as open water. As the open water area diminished so did…
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Recent high waters have caused erosion damage and damage to shoreline structures, particularly east of Cumberland along the Ottawa River and in the upper reaches (Tay Valley Watershed) of the Rideau Valley Watershed. The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) recognizes that some of the remedies for damage may need more than just a minor “tweak.” This is a reminder to all landowners to check with your local Conservation Authority to see if approval is required prior to doing any “clean-up” work along your shoreline (e.g., shoreline stabilization or repair to shore works, erosion control, dock construction, etc.). There are also…
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June 13, 2017
Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation Achieves Accreditation from Imagine Canada’s Standard Program
The Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation (RVCF) is pleased to announce that it has been accredited under Imagine Canada’s national Standards Program. With this achievement, RVCF joins a growing community of organizations dedicated to operational excellence. Just over 220 out of the more than 85,000 registered charities in Canada have earned the accreditation. Designed to strengthen public confidence in the charitable and non-profit sector, the program sets rigorous criteria that require organizations to demonstrate excellence in board governance, financial accountability and transparency, ethical fundraising, staff management and volunteer involvement. RVCF engaged in a two-year accreditation process and clearly demonstrated that its…
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Identifying hazard lands is an important responsibility for Ontario’s Conservation Authorities. During the last five years, the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) has been conducting several hazard mapping studies on watercourses within the City of Ottawa and the RVCA area of jurisdiction. For some watercourses, old mapping will be updated; and for others, hazards maps will be created for the first time. Studies look at identifying two main types of hazards along the watercourses: flood risk and slope stability risk. Flood risk studies make use of contemporary methods in hydrologic and hydraulic analysis,all the available historical records of…
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As part of the continuing commitment to support the community and improve its already environmentally friendly operations, Carleton Refrigeration, Heating and Air Conditioning Inc. will be planting 1,302 young, vigorous, native-Canadian trees in Ottawa. The company is the newest participant in Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation’s (RVCF) Carbon Neutral Program. Carleton Refrigeration, Heating and Air Conditioning is working with RVCF to calculate the amount of carbon emissions they produce (in tonnes of carbon dioxide) and then convert that into the number of trees to be planted to offset (or absorb) the carbon the company produces in their day-to-day operations. Each of…
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March 28, 2017
RVCA Celebrates Successful Year
The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) Board of Directors celebrated another successful year with the release of their 2016 Annual Report. The report highlights numerous on-the-ground projects that happened throughout the Rideau watershed that drains over 4,000 square kilometres in Eastern Ontario. For over 50 years RVCA, along with its many volunteers and partners, has been working to protect and enhance our local environment. Year after year, conservation authority staff, municipalities and partners continue to have a positive impact on the health and resilience of our watershed. Today’s investment in local watershed health will ensure a sustainable future that supports…
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