http://ottawariverkeeper.ca The Ottawa Riverkeeper en-us Copyright 2005 2010-03-11T17:53:14-05:00 hourly Sat, 27 Mar 2010 20:30:00 -0400 http://ottawariverkeeper.ca/events/earth_hour/ On March 27 at 8:30 p.m., hundreds of millions of people around the world will turn off their lights for an hour to demand action on climate change. But that’s just the beginning. Every hour, Canadians are taking small steps to lessen their impact on the environment. From hanging your clothes to dry to taking transit to work, those small steps add up to huge changes for the better. Learn ... Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:30:00 -0400 http://ottawariverkeeper.ca/events/world_water_day_march_22/ World Water Day is an international day of observance and action to draw attention to the plight of the more than 1 billion people world wide that lack access to clean, safe drinking water. The Ottawa Chapter of Council of Canadians is hosting an event for World Water Day 2010! Don’t miss your chance to hear Meredith Brown (Riverkeeper) speak about local water issues, and keeping the Ottawa River clean. There will also be a screening of the documentary film “Blue Gold”. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:11:00 -0500 http://ottawariverkeeper.ca/news/sentinelle_outaouais_et_la_commission_de_la_capitale_nationale_annoncent_le_sommet_sur_la_protection_de_la_rivi_re_des_outaouais/ Sentinelle Outaouais et la Commission de la capitale nationale annoncent le Sommet sur la protection de la rivière des Outaouais Une conférence d’une journée visant à promouvoir l’interaction efficace entre les dirigeants du bassin versant de la rivière des Outaouais Région de la capitale du Canada ? Sentinelle Outaouais, en collaboration avec la Commission de la capitale ... Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:44:00 -0500 http://ottawariverkeeper.ca/news/ottawa_riverkeeper_and_the_national_capital_commission_announce_summit_on_protection_of_the_ottawa_river/ Ottawa Riverkeeper, in cooperation with the National Capital Commission (NCC), is pleased to announce an exciting one-day summit to bring leaders together to discuss the health and future of the Ottawa River and its tributaries. The summit is scheduled to take place on August 27, 2010, in Canada’s Capital Region. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0500 http://ottawariverkeeper.ca/events/bottled_water_free_day/ Across Canada and around the world, people are taking a stand in support of public water and against the privatization of water. The bottled water industry is being forced under a public microscope as more and more people question: · The safety of bottled water · The weak bottled water industry regulatory standards and practices · The growing corporate control of ... Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:36:00 -0500 http://ottawariverkeeper.ca/news/facing_canada_s_water_woes/ Perhaps the biggest, most immediate problem with Canada’s water infrastructure is buried, literally, under our cities and towns. The thousands of kilometres of underground pipes that move water from treatment plants to our taps is leaking — spewing 13% to 30% of clean, drinkable water into the ground. At the same time, waste water and storm water systems can’t keep up and are ... Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:30:00 -0500 http://ottawariverkeeper.ca/news/damage_from_terry_fox_drive_extension_runs_deeper_than_trees/ The City of Ottawa will plant 602 new butternut trees and 100 new ginseng plants to compensate for the ones being ripped up by the Terry Fox Drive extension, according to a proposed agreement with the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources. The agreement, recently posted for public comment on the province’s Environmental Registry website, will allow the city to cut down 20 viable, ... Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:52:00 -0500 http://ottawariverkeeper.ca/news/road_salt_is_poisoning_water_bodies_study_finds/ One of the most detailed investigations ever conducted in Canada into the fate of road salt has found that it is polluting groundwater and causing some streams during winter thaws to have salinity levels just under those found in the ocean. The elevated salt readings were detected in Pickering, where researchers from the University of Toronto have been studying how the salt spread on highways, ... Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:17:00 -0500 http://ottawariverkeeper.ca/news/ice_safety_impossible_to_predict_expert_warns/ Even experienced ice fishermen can plunge through ice on the Ottawa River because there are no reliable maps showing the ice thickness, strength and possible hot spots, according to experts who know the river. Jocelyn Bélanger was such an experienced riverman, and he died taking a chance in trying to drag a fishing hut off the river on Monday evening when his truck broke through and took him ... Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:35:00 -0500 http://ottawariverkeeper.ca/news/sierra_club_plans_national_campaign_to_stop_terry_fox_drive_extension/ The Sierra Club Canada plans to start a national campaign this week attempting to stop the extension of Terry Fox Drive through the sensitive wetland habitat of the threatened Blanding’s turtle. John Bennett, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada, said the club will use its network to reach thousands of environmentally minded citizens, asking them to put pressure on municipal, ... Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:48:00 -0500 http://ottawariverkeeper.ca/news/province_weighs_novel_but_expensive_water_and_sewage_authority/ The provincial government is contemplating creating a new layer of management for local water and sewage systems, a move that would likely result in an increase in consumers’ bills of $40 to $50 a month. David Caplan, the former cabinet minister who proposed the changes in a recent private member’s bill, says Ontario’s aging water pipes need replacing and the creation of an ... Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:30:00 -0500 http://ottawariverkeeper.ca/news/thaw_and_rain_send_sewage_overflow_into_river/ Rain and melting snow late last week caused sewer overflows of more than 15 million litres of mixed raw sewage, rain and snowmelt into the Ottawa River, according to city staff. In a memo, Dixon Weir, the city’s general manager of environmental services, informed councillors of the overflows on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The Ministry of the Environment’s spills centre, the ...