Watershed Health

As we prepare for snowy weather in the Nation Capital Region, here is an introduction to our continued efforts to monitor the impact that road salt has on our local freshwater ecosystems. What are we looking for, why is it a risk, and what can residents do about it?

Climate change is altering the patterns of river ice coverage in our watershed. How will this affect our ecosystems? We explore three ways that a changing climate might impact our river systems and the species that live within them.

As we greet 2022, we are surely in the heart of winter in the National Capital Region (NCR), as we see toques all around, winter sports are going strong, and snowplows are becoming an everyday sight. Monitoring the effects of road salts on our aquatic ecosystems has been a major undertaking at Ottawa Riverkeeper in the past few years, and this winter we are continuing our work while expanding the program throughout the city.

Thank you to the amazing community that made our 20th anniversary year a great one for the river! Check out our Annual Report for highlights from the year, as well as a recording of our 2021 Annual Public Meeting for those who missed the event.

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.