Watershed Health

A guest blog from experts in the field that explores the impact that high chloride concentrations from excess road salt can have on freshwater organisms.

Having its own already established road salt monitoring system, Ottawa Riverkeeper is well-placed to support ABV des 7 in sampling different creeks to determine their chloride concentrations.

As water flows across the land of our watershed, and through the streams and tributaries of the river, it acts differently depending on how humans use the land. Creating detailed maps of how land use in our region changes over time can be an invaluable tool in understanding the health of our watershed.

Road salt is ubiquitous on winter roads throughout our watershed, but it has numerous negative impacts on our waterways. What can you do to reduce this unique form of pollution in our river?

We joined forces with a new supporter of our Watershed Health Assessment and Monitoring initiative: RBC Foundation! RBC’s investment, totaling $350,000 over 3 years, will help fill key data gaps and mobilize a broad network of communities and citizen scientists to monitor and protect swimmable, drinkable and fishable waters.