Exile Infoshop, 256 Bank St. (upstairs)

Meet nearby advocates for peak oil awareness. Come to our informational monthly discussion group meetings to discuss ideas and actions on how to survive the consequences of the inevitable decline in oil production. Please to ensure that the meeting is not cancelled!

To RSVP or for more information, please con
tact the moderator, Ron, at 613-852-5063 or ron@firstgatedreamer.com

St-Faustin-Lac-Carré, le 15 octobre 2009

On Saturday October 24, the 8th Annual Lake Links Workshop will be held at the Perth Legion (6 Beckwith Street East) from 9:00 am till 3:00 pm. Lake Links is a collaboration of Conservation Authorities, Stewardship Councils, NGO’s and Lakes Associations who have come together to develop and host this workshop.

This event offers a unique blend of top-notch presenters with professional expertise in lake environmental protection and monitoring and hands-on interactive informative exhibits to help you learn to protect the health of your lake.

Natural healthy well-vegetated shorelines are one of the Rideau’s best defences in protecting water quality. The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) has a new program that helps waterfront property owners establish or enhance natural shorelines. The program provides site visits by experienced biologists, extra muscle for the actual replanting and know-how to plan and order any plants you need. And, best of all, the program has grants of up to $1,000 for approved shoreline naturalization projects.

Ottawa River WatershedThe Ottawa River watershed, shown on the image to the right, is a secondary (second-order) watershed. The five watersheds within are tertiary (third-order) watersheds. All of these watersheds are included within the primary watersheds (will open in a new window).

Kitche-sippi, the Great River, was the original name given by Algonquin First Nations people who lived on its banks. The river was the first highway for the Algonquin people, giving them access to the resources of the wilderness and the means to trade them.

The Ottawa River is the second largest river the Eastern Canada. It stretches for 1271km and drains an area of 146,300km2. The Ottawa River watershed is a part of the Great Lakes St Lawrence watershed - the largest freshwater ecosystem in the world! The Ottawa River is the largest tributary of the St Lawrence River, and so the health of the Ottawa River directly effects the health of the St Lawrence River.

The Ottawa River begins deep in Québec just outside La Vérendrye Wildlife Refuge, flowing from here into Lake Temiskaming, then it runs all the way to the St Lawrence in the East along the border of Québec and Ontario until it reaches Montreal. 

 Gatineau Watershed

The Gatineau River Watershed is located in the Southwest of the province of Quebec. It is surrounded by Lièvre to the East, Coulonge to the West, and Saint-Maurice to the North.

• Drainage Area: 40 254 km2
• General Direction Flow: Southerly
• Headwaters: Near Parent, in the Haute-Mauricie region.
• Confluence: The Ottawa River at the Pointe-Gatineau sector of the city of Gatineau.
• Towns and Cities: The watershed touches five administrative regions, the principal ones being la Mauricie, les Laurentides and the Outaouais regions.
• Approximate Population: 96, 366 inhabitants (over half live in the City of Gatineau)
• Total Length: ~520 km
• Elevation: 490 metres
• Average Flow: 350m3/sec (Paugan Power Station)
  
• Predominant Land Use: More than 80% forested
• Rivers and Tributaries: The Gatineau River watershed is composed of eight secondary watersheds: River and Desert Lakes, Kazabazua, and Gens de Terre Rivers, Thirty-one Mile Lake, Cabonga Basin, Petawaga, Clova and Bazin Lakes. Some 50 rivers run into the Gatineau River.
• Lakes: More than 19,000. The Principle ones are Dumont Lake, Blue Sea, Petit Lac des Cedres, Grand Lac des Cedres, Heney, Pemichangan, Roddick, Cayamant, Sainte-Marie andThirty-one Mile Lake; and two reservoirs, Baskatong and Cabonga.

Adapted from COMGA's Summary of the Gatineau River Watershed Portrait

1. Shoreline Erosion

To reduce shoreline erosion, speed limits for boats, restoration of shorelines and guidelines for cottagers pertaining to bank protection, are some of the measures available. Since shoreline erosion increases runoff, many problems stem from this: the increase in turbidity affects water quality indicators, and the inflow of excessive amounts of nutrients stimulate the proliferation of cyanobacteria and invasive plants.

2. Control and Prevention of Cyanobacteria

3. Control and Prevention of Invasive Plants

4. Collating Information and Data

5. Surface and Groundwater Quality

RVCASince the 1970s, numerous studies have been undertaken with a view to protecting the Rideau River’s value as an important natural and cultural heritage resource in Eastern Ontario and the greater Ottawa area.

Early efforts focused on water quality and the impact of urban pollutant sources on swimming beaches, progressing from the treatment of point sources such as combined sewer overflows, to non point sources such as urban runoff. These studies led to the adoption of a non-degradation policy aimed at controlling further runoff-borne bacterial loading, and the construction of stormwater treatment facilities for any new urban developments contributing runoff to the river and its tributaries.

The Rideau Canal is 202 km, and connects Lake Ontario at Kingston to the Ottawa River at Ottawa. It is made up of a chain of lakes, rivers and artificial channels. The water flows from the Upper Rideau Lake, near Smiths Falls both northeast toward Ottawa in the Rideau River and southwest toward Kingston in the Cataraqui River. The Rideau River and the Canal are the same waterway for most of the River's length. The River diverges from the Canal in Ottawa. The Canal has a system of 47 locks providing boats access to the Ottawa River.

Gatineau WatershedFifty streams flow into the Gatineau River. In the northern part of the basin, the main tributaries of the river Gatineau rivers Bazin, to Bleuets, canoeing, Cuckoo, Fortier, Clova, Cabonga, Belinga, Wapus, Land and People Notawassi. In the southern part of the basin, the major rivers of importance are located north of the municipality of La Pêche. These include rivers Tomasini, Ignatius, the Eagle, Quinn, Desert Picanoc, Kazabazua, Joseph and Fishing and streams Stag, Mullin, Daly, Wilson and Woodburn. The extreme south of the basin, including Gatineau Park and the city of Gatineau, is drained by numerous small rivers, streams such as Meech, Blackburn, Chelsea or the Brasserie. These small tributaries drain regions to the south and most densely populated or Kas rivers and fishing and streams Meech and Chelsea.

There are over 19 000 lakes which 650 are listed in municipality territories - the main ones being the Lakes Dumont and Blue Sea, the Little Cedar Lake, the Grand Lake Cedars, Lakes Heney, Pemichangan, Roddick, Cayamant, Sainte-Marie and Thirty-one Thousand and two tanks, and Baskatong Cabonga which occupy the depressions North of the Mercier and Cabonga Dams.

Adapted from COMGA's Gatineau River Watershed Portrait (French only)