Aquatic Phenomena

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?

Nothing’s better on a hot summer day than spending time at your local beach, but warmer temperatures increase the risk of blue-green algae blooms which could lead to beach closures. But what are blue-green algae? Where do blooms come from and how could this affect the swim season?

On August 15, the Minstère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre le changement climatique announced that power station operator Brookfield was responsible for this summer’s four fish kill incidents on the Lièvre River. Below is our response to this latest development.