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The Ottawa River is a shadow of its usual self.
That’s hardly surprising, given that Ottawa has received just 40% of the usual amount of rain it normally does by this time of year and several heat records have been shattered since March.
According to Ottawa River Regulating Committee spokesman Michael Sarich, the situation isn’t much better up north, where reservoirs are still not full. Normally that water is released when water levels get low, but Sarich said not even that would make much of a difference at this stage.
“What we need is rain,” said Sarich.
But, according to Environment Canada, trending and forecasts suggest much of the same for the rest of the summer.
Sarich said the low water levels could have a major impact on hydro-electric generation, which relies on greater volumes of water than that which is currently available. But Ontario Power Generation has an agreement that spells out minimum and maximum levels for the water and — so far — those haven’t been breached.
“Recreational use of the river is also impacted,” he said. “In some cases, even access — people can’t get on the river because it’s too low. There are no options.”
While the river is low, Sarich said there is no imminent threat to the water table affecting wells along the watershed. Places like Constance Bay, for example, don’t have municipal water, so residents rely on wells.
“It affects the table with time, but we’re still in pretty good shape,” he said, crediting that fact to last year’s abundance of rain.
At least the water levels haven’t gotten any worse, said Ottawa Riverkeeper Meredith Brown.
“It seems to have plateaued,” said Brown. “But it’s looking like the water is going to be very low all year.”
On the upside, Brown said the lack of rain may be a good thing for beachgoers in Ottawa. While public beaches remain closed and untested before the start of the official swimming season June 19, the E. coli count may be low.
“E. coli is typically associated with rain and storm water” said Brown. “If we don’t get much rain, the quality of the water should be better.”
However, E. coli is also caused by waste from geese and seagulls.
“With the water so low and so warm, the effect of the birds on the water quality is accelerated,” she said.
Meanwhile, up river in the Valley, there are at least four companies that provide whitewater rafting tours on the Ottawa.
Joe Kowalski of Wilderness Tours said business is fine despite the low water levels.
“It has no effect whatsoever,” said Kowalski. “It’s totally irrelevant, except that the water is at summer levels and warmer than usual.”
Kowalski, who has worked on the river for 36 years, said this type of thing happens from time to time and is usually solved by “three of four days of rain.”