News
Flooding has occurred in areas of the Rideau Watershed as a result of rains that were closer to monthly totals than daily amounts. The community of North Gower has had floodwaters in some homes and in the streets near Stevens Creek. Low-lying areas along the Rideau and its tributaries have also been flooded but no residential flooding has been reported or is expected in those areas at this time. A weather system moving into eastern Ontario Wednesday night may bring more rain in thunder storms. What impact these storms will have will depend on timing, intensity and size. The decline…
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Watershed Conditions Statements
July 24, 2017
Heavy Rains Forecast in Rideau River Watershed
Heavy rains forecast for Monday into Tuesday could cause rapid increases in water levels in small streams and raise rivers and lakes to above normal levels. The Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) has issued a Rainfall Warning that says “A slow moving upper disturbance over Lake Huron is expected to generate significant rainfall amounts over much of Eastern Ontario”. As much as 100 millimetres (mm) of rain is possible over a wide area. A few days without rain provided some capacity for infiltration of the rain into the soil but that storage has been filled with water levels already on…
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Watershed Conditions Statements
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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Media Release
Above normal rain has received plenty of attention over recent weeks with close to a normal month worth of rain having fallen at several monitoring locations in the Rideau watershed in half the month of July. Most extreme is at the Ottawa Airport where 109 millimetres (mm) has fallen to date where 92 mm is the 30 year historical average. Normal precipitation on the watershed to mid-July is about 504 mm. This year, an average of 729 mm has been recorded. After relatively high spring levels in April on Rideau watershed streams and lakes, rainfall has continued to keep levels…
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Watershed Conditions Statements
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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Media Release
July 02, 2017
Rain Causing High Flows on Tributary Streams
Heavy rain that has fallen on the Rideau River watershed over the last week has caused some smaller streams to overtop their banks.Rainfall on July 1 was varied over the watershed with 42 millimetres measured at the Ottawa Airport, 31 mm at Franktown in the upper Jock River watershed but less than 10 mm in Kemptville and Westport.Flooding is not expected on the Rideau or the major tributaries, Tay and Jock Rivers and Kemptville Creek. However, safety is an issue around smaller streams that have fast flows with wet and muddy banks, for example, Stevens and Sawmill Creek. Parents need…
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Watershed Conditions Statements
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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Media Release
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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Media Release
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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Media Release
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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Media Release
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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Media Release
June 02, 2017
Flood Watch Terminated For Rideau Watershed
Rain forecast for Sunday and Monday can be expected to cause levels throughout the watershed to turn upward; however, no flooding is expected. Rain, possibly 20 to 25 millimetres, can be expected to raise levels in watershed rivers and lakes but not to flood stage similar to what occurred last weekend. Level and flow increases are expected to last for two or three days before returning to gradual declines toward long term averages. With water levels declining and no flooding expected, the Flood Watch, maintained over the last week for the Tay River, is terminated. Conservation Authority staff will continue…
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Watershed Conditions Statements
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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Media Release
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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Media Release
May 26, 2017
Flood Warning Withdrawn for Lakes on Tay River
Water levels are finally receding on Christie and Bobs Lakes both of which have had high water since the two bouts of heavy rain three weeks ago.Bobs Lake levels were high from the spring runoff in April. The rain recorded at Bolingbroke, about 90 millimetres over the four days from May 4 through 7, was similar to what fell over much of the eastern parts of Ontario. The increase of Bobs lake levels made it necessary for Parks Canada staff to release water through the Bolingbroke Dam. Christie Lake has been the unfortunate recipient of the excess water from…
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Watershed Conditions Statements
