Aquatic Phenomena

Environment and Climate Change Canada has announced a fine for the release of a deleterious substance into the Lièvre River, a tributary of the Ottawa River. The incident occurred in 2019, the same year as major fish kills in the Lièvre, when thousands of dead fish washed up along the shores of the Ottawa River. ECCC says it did not find a link between the discharge and the fish deaths. Will we ever know the full story?

As summer draws to a close and temperatures begin to cool, you might expect algal blooms to disappear along with the heat. But surprisingly, there can be an increase in blooms in early fall. So what is driving this seasonal resurgence?

It has been a very dry spring across the Ottawa River watershed. This, coupled with an early spring snowmelt, has resulted in low water levels being observed throughout the region. While levels this low may not be new, they still have the potential to result in changes in our local freshwater ecosystems.

On July 8th, 2019, Ottawa Riverkeeper heard of large numbers of dead fish downstream of the Lièvre River. One year later, we look back at this incident and worry that not much has changed.

Have you noticed whether there is ice forming on your local waterways?