Posted: April 28, 2021
Celebrating 20 years of Ottawa Riverkeeper
On April 28, 2001, a small group of committed river enthusiasts hosted a community meeting at Lakeside Gardens Britannia. They hoped 20 people might attend, or as many as 50, but they never imagined 100 river enthusiasts would appear. Why were they there? They were keen to protect the Ottawa River, and were mobilizing to create Ottawa Riverkeeper!
Written by Riverwatcher Cathy Rogers, who has been investigating the history of Ottawa Riverkeeper and the story of its formation.
Two million people count on the Ottawa River and its tributaries for everything from drinking water to sanitation, from electric power to recreation… Our lives, our livelihoods, and our future actually depend on this river, its ecological integrity, its health, and its resilience.
“On the time scale that marks the passage of rivers, this is a youthful watershed, though set upon an ageless foundation. It is also a land of remarkable natural diversity, extraordinary beauty, and of global ecological importance.”
– River Report p.13
We share our watershed home with splendid communities of flora and fauna. When they thrive, so too do we. However, with ongoing and increasing human activity and population, we have imposed many demands on our river – all cumulative, some incompatible, and, together, unsustainable. In turn, over decades, we have witnessed some alarming indications of our river’s faltering health: industrial contamination so intense that provincial and federal governments were stirred to action mandating the measurement of water quality, regulating the worst polluters, and promoting new technology. Sometime thereafter, local communities were relieved to see life returning to aggrieved sections of the river.
More recently, across the watershed, we’ve been contending with raw sewage spills, high E. coli counts after rainfall, and toxic algal blooms. We find plastic litter and microplastics throughout the watershed and in the food chain. We lament the progressive disappearance of critical habitats and the precipitous decline of once thriving and teeming populations of native birds, fish, and invertebrates. Our collective impacts have profound implications for the health of our river. Ultimately, our negative impacts on the river jeopardize our lives, our livelihoods, and our future.
In witnessing the changing status of our river, scattered volunteers began to undertake conservation initiatives. While sincere and effort intensive, these initiatives were impossible to sustain and inevitably too modest to “save the river”. Along came George Brown – a highly innovative social entrepreneur with a longstanding interest in environmental concerns. As city councillor, he was inundated with complaints from constituents who were disturbed and outraged that, in the heat of summer, they were frequently unable to swim in local waterways due to E. coli contamination. Next, as a law student at Ottawa U, George undertook a term paper entitled: “Who is watching out for the Ottawa River?”. Through his research George determined that existing organizations and legislation could not offer the kind of protection the Ottawa River requires. These frameworks had either local or narrowly defined scope, and could not account for cumulative, downstream, or broad ecological implications.
Looking for some form of active, watershed-level stewardship, George came across a brilliant idea: the Waterkeeper Stewardship Model. In essence, this concept relies on a full-time advocate (the Waterkeeper) to engage the public in protecting their local waterways. The Waterkeeper’s sole mandate is to protect the ecological integrity and health of the waterway. The Waterkeeper is independent of politics, government, and private interests.
George was compelled by international examples of existing Waterkeepers who had proven their ability to achieve ecologically positive decision-making and change. George recognized the power, the practicality, and the versatility of the Waterkeeper Model. He realized that locally implementing the concept could be an effective means to promote the ecological integrity of the Ottawa River and, in turn, to foster resilience and economic stability in resident communities across the watershed!
With energy and enthusiasm, George began to share and promote the Waterkeeper concept with local citizen groups. He soon met Dan Brunton – lifelong ecologist, inveterate environmental consultant, and experienced advocate for natural spaces. Aware of previous conservation proposals for the Ottawa River, Dan was initially wary, but he too was compelled by the potential of the Waterkeeper Model. Together, George and Dan began to share this intriguing glimmer of hope with a broader audience. For months, they vetted the concept with the conservation community. In November 2000, an exploratory meeting at Carleton University’s Department of Environmental Studies drew a small but keen group: George, Dan, Nancy Doubleday, Nicole DesRoches, and Joe Courtney. These keen attendees recognized the significance of implementing an Ottawa River Waterkeeper and unanimously agreed to gather further support among associates and the public.
In March 2001, John Almstedt learned of the Waterkeeper initiative for the Ottawa River and reached out to Dan. John was keen to help in developing plans and offered ideas for office space, boat acquisition, and his particular interest – community engagement. Shortly thereafter, Parham Momtahan joined in, adding his extraordinary organizational abilities to the development effort. George, Dan, John, and Parham spearheaded the subsequent design, promotion, and structure of the new organization.
On April 5, 2001, Bob Phillips, a journalist for the Ottawa Citizen sparked wide interest in the Waterkeeper initiative when he published his hearty endorsement in the Outaouais Column.
And then we came to April 28th, 2001. On a beautiful spring day, the small but growing group of committed river enthusiasts hosted a community meeting at Lakeside Gardens Britannia. They hoped 20 new people might attend, or even as many as 50, but they never imagined 100 river enthusiasts would appear. On this great day, with excited energy in the crowd, a critical mass of private citizens came forward, vowing to breathe life into Ottawa Riverkeeper.
Although not legally the beginning of the organization, this was the date it became more than an idea. Building upon the community support that was on display that day, Ottawa Riverkeeper was formed, and for the next twenty years continued its mandate as a voice and advocate for the Ottawa River. It is fitting that on this day twenty years later we look back and celebrate the people and the community that helped create this organization.
We thank the following people for their vision and commitment, for their talent and ingenuity, for their generosity of spirit and of time – the founding members of Ottawa Riverkeeper:
George Brown
Maureen Adamache
Joe Courtney
Randi Hansen
Parham Momtahan
Mari Wellman
Dan Brunton
John Almstedt
Nicole DesRoches
Mary Hegan
Don Pascovitch
“It was the right idea, the right time, the right people, and the right river!”
– George Brown
Well worth celebrating such an important anniversary, the founding members deserve our appreciation for their vision and commitment.
Let’s hope the next 20 years continues to sucessfully build on these foundations .