Ottawa River Watershed Council

Ottawa Riverkeeper is a nonprofit organization looking to protect and preserve the Ottawa River and its watershed. In 2015, we hosted the Ottawa River Summit, which led to the Gatineau Declaration setting out the principles of an integrated approach to sustainable water management within the Ottawa River Watershed.

Now in 2017, the growing momentum, interest, and urgency suggest that it is time to address significant concerns, such as the cumulative impacts of pollution and development throughout the watershed.

In order to effectively address these issues, a new form of watershed-based collaboration is needed. To this end, members of our watershed community have come together to propose the creation of a collaborative, multi-sectoral Ottawa River Watershed Council.

Building upon the Gatineau Declaration, the Council would bring together key players in our watershed, with a focus on cooperation between all sectors of our river. We are hoping to convene later this year, but we cannot do it alone. There can be no cooperation without communication; that is why your opinion is critical to this project.

The discussion paper below outlines our ideas for a unified watershed – a vision that cannot be complete without input from our communities. We hope you can take the time to provide feedback on the document, and help us move forward with this valuable initiative. All the feedback will be collected and reviewed  in the hopes of creating a council that truly reflects the diverse populations of our watershed.

 

Our thanks to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for supporting this collective impact initiative.

Ontario Trillium Foundation

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