Posted: March 22, 2022
A new way to explore the health of the Ottawa River
We are launching a new interactive tool that helps you learn more about the health of your watershed, and explore the data we are collecting through community based monitoring. As this work expands, we are also opening up applications for new volunteers to be a part of this important monitoring work!
Ottawa – March 22nd, 2022. This World Water Day, Ottawa Riverkeeper is pleased to announce the launch of our Watershed Health Discovery Portal, a new interactive learning tool. The online portal is part of our ambitious, multi-year Watershed Health Assessment and Monitoring initiative. Now, we are making it easier for residents in the watershed to learn about their river and the threats that face it. We are also recruiting volunteers to take part in hands-on monitoring this year.
World Water Day is a day to reflect on our relationship to fresh water, think about how it is protected, and advocate for water issues. Canada is a nation of lakes and rivers, with the Ottawa River, which flows through our nation’s capital, providing drinking water to almost 2 million people. The more we know about this important source of life, the better we can steward and protect it for future generations.
That is why Ottawa Riverkeeper is expanding public access to the results of its Watershed Health Assessment and Monitoring initiative with a new interactive online tool. Launched today, Ottawa Riverkeeper’s Discovery Portal, presented by RBC, will provide everyone with an easily accessible and educational way to explore many of the common questions we receive about the watershed.
The Discovery Portal highlights seven big questions about watershed health. Each of these questions is similar to the questions Ottawa Riverkeeper commonly hears from people wondering how healthy our watershed is. Using data from our 14 indicators of watershed health, we are providing the results to answer these questions, as well as many more about our river system. The portal will be consistently updated as we continue our monitoring and learn even more!
In order to collect data across an area as large as the Ottawa River watershed, Ottawa Riverkeeper engages with volunteers to assist with watershed-wide community based monitoring initiatives. As these monitoring projects continue to gain momentum, we are in need of more volunteers, so we are also announcing recruitment for this season’s community based monitoring volunteers. If residents of the watershed are interested in being a part of this important work, they can apply to be a part of various monitoring initiatives right now! We have launched recruitment for several monitoring projects, including Total Phosphorus, Invasive Species and Algal Blooms. With more volunteers collecting data and observations from all over the watershed, we can get closer to a greater understanding of the health of our watershed.
Ottawa Riverkeeper will continue to build on the success of this initiative for years to come as we continue to investigate the health of our watershed and inform residents of our findings. The Discovery Portal will feature conclusions drawn from the data collected by our volunteers and analysed by Ottawa Riverkeeper and specialised experts. It is built to be a more easily comprehensible platform to complement our Open Data Portal, which allows scientists and researchers to access the raw data we are collecting in an open and transparent way.
The work of community based monitoring volunteers was recently featured in the mini-documentary Chasing a Healthy Watershed, premiered in December last year. The documentary gives an overview of the Watershed Health Assessment and Monitoring, as well as highlighting some of the amazing volunteers that make it possible. It is our hope that this work will inspire everyone in the watershed to become more involved with the stewardship of freshwater resources, learn more about the river, participate in monitoring and citizen science, and advocate for responsible management and protection of the watershed.
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About Ottawa Riverkeeper
Ottawa Riverkeeper, a charitable organization, is a champion and collective voice for the Ottawa River watershed, providing leadership and inspiration to protect, promote and improve its ecological health and future. Expert and independent, our organization advocates for responsible and participatory decision-making, public education, access to information, and compliance with protective regulations. Guided by a science-based approach, we provide clear information with the aim to engage the public and empower citizens and decision-makers to ensure clean, healthy, and accessible water for all people and species.
For more information:
Matthew Brocklehurst, Communications Manager
media@ottawariverkeeper.ca
Greetings: Thank you for this initiative. I offer the following, but likely you have already been alerted to this. Dr Akira Kudo et al published findings as researchers at NRCC in the 70s & 80s regarding among other things methyl mercury in the Ottawa River and watershed. Regards