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Move over, Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. There’s a mystery currently playing out in Stittsville that may not be quite as suspenseful as some of your crime novels but right now the mystery is not definitely solved and many are upset at what may be an environmental crime. But this has not yet been determined.
Playing a lead role in all of this mystery, much like Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple or Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, is Matt Craig of the Mississippi Valley Conservation (MVC) who currently is working with city of Ottawa staff as well as the MVC’s own staff to try to come up with some answers to provide to the many Stittsville and area residents who have inquired about the mystery.
It all involves the wetland area along the Trans Canada Trail just west of Stittsville, where there is a lookout which allows Trail users to pause and gaze over what used to be a flourishing, water filled marsh and wetland.
However, in recent weeks, this wetland has lost all of its water and is now devoid of water, other than for small puddles here and there.
Sylvie Sabourin of Stittsville is one of those who is devastated by this change in the wetland. A noted photographer, she has photographs that show the change in the wetland – from a marsh full of water in the spring to now a total dry wasteland.
She wonders what any authorities – city of Ottawa or Mississippi Valley Conservation – can do now, given the lack of water in the wetland.
“The damage is done, unfortunately,” she writes in an email. “No more beavers, no more fish, no more birds, no more turtles and the list goes on.”
Ms. Sabourin has been working on a book about the lookout and wetland that is scheduled to come out soon. She laments that unfortunately the book and its photographs may be an “in memoriam” record of what used to be.
She is concerned that the complex ecosystem which this wetland sustained and which took decades to establish will probably not be able to get back to its original state for decades to come, if ever.
She has noticed that beaver dams in the area were removed and that beavers were being trapped.
“I don’t know but suspect it is one of the reasons the swamp drained like a bathtub without a plug,” she comments in an email to city of Ottawa Stittsville ward councillor Shad Qadri.
Ms. Sabourin is not the only one upset about the dry wetland.
“I’ve been away on holidays and upon my return I find that Poole Creek in Stittsville is missing in action, including the wetlands that are its headwaters,” writes Corien Kershey in a recent email. She also wonders about the mystery.
Students at the Ottawa Waldorf School, which is located along the Trans Canada Trail, are wondering about this dried-up wetland.
Teacher Allan Krueger, who has taught at the school for 16 years, has taken classes to this lookout location for years as he teaches about nature and the ecology.
His grade eight students went to the site last week, returning to the school where they spent the whole morning discussing the situation and lamenting what they saw, such as frogs congregating in the last remaining small puddles.
“They were quite shocked to see the damage there,” Mr. Krueger said about the students’ visit to the dry wetland.
Ottawa Waldorf School grade eight student Nora Joyner captured the upset of her fellow students when she penned this following description which she called “Where are the wetlands?”
“It’s absolutely staggering. Mud as far as the eye can see. Trees and plants looking somewhat lost in the expanse of dirt. Old pop cans and unidentifiable plastic bottles lying in the mud, thrown there by people who simply no longer care. Animal tracks strewn across the landscape as they search for new homes. Frogs and minnows crowding into small pools of water. These are the remains of the Stittsville wetlands. They once held four beaver dams and were home to a local ecosystem, but no more. These wetlands were drained a short while ago, beavers relocated, dams destroyed, soon to be developed on. Blame for the incident has been thrown around since it happened in late July, so how do we find out who is responsible? And more importantly, how can we stop it?”
All may not be quite a bleak for the wetland as all this.
Matt Craig of the Mississippi Valley Conservation (MVC), which has jurisdiction over the water resources of the Carp River watershed which includes Poole Creek and these wetlands west of Stittsville, says both city of Ottawa staff and MVC staff are trying to determine why this wetland went dry. He says that the MVC wants to be able to provide answers to the many who are contacting the organization about the matter.
There was a municipal drain petition and study done which involved this wetland. Mr. Craig has asked city staff to determine if works done with regard to this municipal drain conformed with the engineer’s report. One point to check will be whether a new culvert was installed at the proper elevation.
Mr. Craig has himself viewed the dry wetland and inspected the area.
He says that MVC staff is now examining temperature and precipitation trends from this year to compare them with other years to see if the dryness could be weather related or not.
He notes that the MVC issued five bulletins this summer regarding low water conditions in various watercourses and areas.
Mr. Craig admits that there are some ecological concerns regarding the dried up wetland but he feels that it will rebound provided there is sufficient snow this winter. He notes that a wetland by definition may sometimes only be seasonally wet. Other wetland characteristics such as soil conditions will ensure that it remains a wetland.
He admits that some fish have died and that turtles seem to be scrambling in the last pools of water in the wetland. However, he is hopeful that the wildlife will adapt and find suitable habitat despite the dry wetland.
Phil Sweetnam, the longtime area representative on the MVC Board of Directors, says that tributaries and watercourses across the MVC jurisdiction are virtually all dry this year. He admits that he has not personally viewed the dry wetland but knows that MVC staff had been on site.
City of Ottawa Stittsville ward councillor Shad Qadri says that he asked both city staff and the MVC to investigate the situation.
“Both are telling me it is strictly due to the dry weather conditions in the area,” councillor Qadri said on Tuesday.
He said that city staff has told him that a new culvert under the Trans Canada Trail was placed at a higher elevation than the old one, eliminating claims by some that the new culvert was lower, allowing the wetland to drain. The culvert work would also have had to be approved by the MVC following the guidance of an engineering report done for the municipal drain work in the area.
Councillor Qadri said that the MVC will be issuing a public statement soon regarding the dry wetland situation.
© Copyright Metroland 2011
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