COS has identified almost 100 environmental projects that could be undertaken
along the Rideau River between Ottawa City Hall and Smith Falls to improve the
health of the watershed Projects were identified by analyzing more than twenty
environmental reports, having discussions with numerous experts and government
agencies and by consulting with community groups and individuals along the Rideau.
Projects include shoreline stabilization, bird habitat creation, improving water quality, monitoring storm sewers and restoring fish habitat. This Action Inventory was developed as part of ECOS's Action Kit (partially funded by the Millennium Bureau of Canada) and just produced by Anne Robinson.
The Action Kit will be shared with community groups and organizations up and down the river. It contains 15 detailed maps showing environmental action sites along 80 kilometres of the Rideau. The map above (one of the 15) shows projects which could be undertaken near Brewer Pond. If you want to help in any way or have ideas about what we could do, contact us at the Old Firehall.
BC 17: Create a current break in middle of the Rideau just below the mouth of Sawmill Creek using small boulders to attract fish and enrich the aquatic habitat.
BC 18: Monitor fish populations at the mouth of Sawmill Creek to determine whether changes inwater quality affect the fish. This will help us understand if reduced pollution and erosion along Sawmill Creek improves fish habitat at the mouth of the creek.
BC 19: Examine the butterfly inventory near Wendover and Warrington Aves. to see if we can add to the list or learn more about butterflies. Did you know an internationally acclaimed butterfly expert lives in our neighborhood?
BC 20:Create a butterfly meadow at Brewer Pond as part of the ECOS Interpretive Program. We need enthusiastic volunteers who will stick with us next spring and summer and up to $ 1,000 in donations for expenses.
BC 21: Improve the Billings Islands just downstream from Brewer Pond. They feature excellent waterfowl habitat and we plan a clean-up in October. You can help us and if you are curious, view the habitat from either shore or from the bridge on Bank Street.
BC 22: storm sewers along our stretch of the Rideau drain a lot of storm water into the river reducing its quality. Some older sewers may allow waste to seep into the river. We'd like to monitor what the sewers spew into the Rideau.
BC 23:The parking lot and park on the Rideau at Riverside Drive and Data Centre Road beside the plaza attract nature lovers to view and feed the waterfowl. This traffic adversely affects the shore and the waterfowl have become dependent on handouts. The shoreline needs to be re-vegetated and human traffic somehow limited. Anyone interested in helping solve the problem?
BC 24: storm sewers along our stretch of the Rideau put tons of silt into the river, hurting fish habitat. The silt should be removed periodically.
BC25: a lot of garbage has collected along the shore of the Rideau in Old Ottawa South. Help us in October with a general clean-up being organized by the Mountain Equipment Co-op, with help from the Canadian Museum of Nature and ECOS.
BC26: In August, Hedrik Wachelka spearheaded an ECOS project to create a fish embayment on the north bank of the Rideau immediately west of the Dunbar Bridge to give the fish the kind of habitat existing here in the 1930s.
BC 27: If ECOS can line up some more funding, a second embayment will be created east of the Dunbar bridge.
BC 28: On August 20, Terry Newcombe and ten other volunteers from COGNOS Inc. worked with Mike Rankin, Museum of Nature turtle expert, and ECOS to create basking sites for painted turtles. This is an ongoing project.
BC 29: OOS resident John Wright has led ECOS's efforts over the years to create an urban forest along the Rideau in Old Ottawa South. More than 3,000 trees have already been planted and we want to continue our efforts in the fall of1999 and spring of 2000. Interested in helping?
BC 30: ECOS is proud of its naturalization efforts at Brewer Pond with trees abounding where once there were gravel parking lots. But, what about the killdeer which likes gravelly soil to nest in? It was once quite abundant in the Pond area. Now it seems to be scarcer. Birders, help us figure out if we are working against the killdeer and what could we do. Notice how the swallows love the birdhouses Sandy Garland and the Scouts installed several years ago? How can we improve bird habitat along the Rideau?
BC 31: Local nature lovers asked for more access points to the Rideau in Old Ottawa South so they can get a better view of the river's edge and the teeming aquatic shore life. We've identified some access points but need your suggestions about how to do it.
BC 32: Storm water going into the Rideau reduces water quality. Make a real difference by getting a rain barrel to capture the rainwater instead of letting it collect dirt and grime as it flows into the river. If you don't have a rain barrel, head down to Arbour in the Glebe to buy one.
BC 33: In 1996, Bob Conrad did a survey of purple loosestrife around Brewer Pond. Then, it was quite extensive, now it has taken over. The City environment department is encouraging us to tackle it. We need volunteers next spring to eradicate thousands of plants in the Pond area.