Accessibility and Access Keys [0]
Although the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa is having some of its property lines surveyed, the line along the Rideau River was taken off the work list on Tuesday, according to the firm that has been doing the survey.
After passersby noticed soil and blocks from a dismantled wall along the riverbank and in the water last week, embassy representatives said they were using the material to protect the bank from eroding.
“The alleged site of ‘debris dumping’ completely lies within the boundaries of the Chinese Embassy,” embassy officials said in a written statement Monday.
Yesterday afternoon, at the eastern edge of Bordeleau Park adjacent to the embassy, two survey technicians worked
to re-establish the embassy’s western property line along Forsey Street.
Yesterday was the second day of work for the men, who on Tuesday had been working on a portion of the property line along St. Patrick Street.
“They called me some time ago and asked me to re-establish the property lines along St. Andrew and along the west side of the property,” said Ronald Denis, an Ontario land surveyor with Farley, Smith and Denis. (The embassy fronts on a section of St. Patrick Street that was called St. Andrew when the property’s boundaries were drawn.)
“They did ask me about the shoreline, and then they called me back and said no, just do the (survey lines) along St. Andrew and the west boundary. That was (Tuesday),” Mr. Denis said yesterday.
Typed signs reading, “Under construction. No entry! Thanks” had been mounted to plywood and sunk into the ground around the site, attached to what appeared to be two-by-fours.
Two of those signs were planted in the ground in front of the perimeter wall that separates the embassy from the park. Another was in the mud on the riverbank behind the embassy; a fourth, positioned in what appeared to be soil in the blocks of the retaining wall, faced out into the river.
The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority hopes to release an update on its progress on this issue this morning, said community relations manager Diane Downey.
Solutions to shoreline erosion can vary depending on river flow, the material of the riverbank, the cause of the erosion and where along the river the erosion is, said Ferdous Ahmed, a senior water-resources engineer with the authority.
“Depending on all of these, an engineer can determine the best solution,” he said.
The most common solution is to plant vegetation along the shoreline, he said. Other solutions include placing stones along the riverbank. Building a retaining wall is a possible solution that needs careful design and planning by an engineer, he said. Conducting work along the shoreline requires permits, typically from local conservation authorities, and sometimes from municipal and other levels of government.
On its website, at www.rideauvalley.on.ca/plan-reg/regulations.html, the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority lists questions landowners might have about regulations for shoreline development.
Similarly, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, which has jurisdiction over fish habitats under the Fisheries Act, has a comprehensive page called “The Shore Primer—Ontario Edition,” which lists ways to restore an eroded shoreline after obtaining the required approvals.