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Main Office Phone Numbers : 613-692-3571 / 1-800-267-3504
Staff Directory
May 13, 2024
Become a citizen scientist with City Stream Watch!
OTTAWA, May 13, 2024 – If you’re fascinated by the natural world, love spending time outside or simply want an excuse to splash around in your local creek, now’s your chance. The RVCA’s City Stream Watch program will host a volunteer orientation day on May 25 for anyone interested in helping with its stream assessments, which carefully survey the full length of four Ottawa creeks each summer. This year’s candidates are Graham Creek near Bayshore Mall, Brassils Creek near Burritts Rapids, McEwan Creek in Greenboro and Greens Creek in Beacon Hill. Survey volunteers can sign up for their preferred shifts on weekday mornings, afternoons…
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MISSISSIPPI-RIDEAU, May 16, 2024 – Just in time for cottage season, the Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Region (MRSPR) has released a series of short educational videos about keeping your drinking water safe when drawing directly from a lake or river. Drinking surface water is not uncommon on waterfront properties, but comes with unique risks, including increased potential for harmful algal blooms, pathogens and chemical contaminants to impact drinking water safety. The MRSPR’s new four-part video series addresses these issues, discussing the pros and cons of available at-home water treatment options and even taking viewers on a tour of an Otter Lake…
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RIDEAU VALLEY, May 28, 2024 – With this year’s spring planting behind us, now’s the time to secure your spot for the 2025 season. Whether you want to plant trees on your idle or marginal land or plant shrubs to naturalize your shoreline, RVCA is now booking site visits to get the process started. The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) offers generous grants to help landowners protect and enhance the watershed’s natural resources: tree planting is subsidized to between $0.15 and $0.40 per tree, while shoreline naturalization costs may be covered up to 90%. Tree planting and shoreline naturalization projects support…
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June 07, 2024
Conservation Authorities seek public input on updated development policies and wetland mapping in Eastern Ontario
EASTERN ONTARIO, June 7, 2024 – South Nation Conservation (SNC), Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) and the Raisin Region Conservation Authority (RRCA) are welcoming public input on updated development policies and wetland mapping used in Conservation Authority permitting. On April 1, 2024, the Government of Ontario replaced individual Conservation Authority Regulations under Section 28 of the Conservation Authorities Act, with Ontario Regulation 41/24: Prohibited Activities, Exemptions and Permits. This update requires Conservation Authorities to regulate development activities within 30 metres of all wetlands, as defined by the new regulation. Conservation Authority staff have completed draft updates to policies, procedures and mapping in response…
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KARS-ON-THE-RIDEAU – June 21, 2024 – Dignitaries, donors, and special guests joined staff and board members from the Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation (RVCF) and Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) to celebrate the Baxter Conservation Area’s flagship accessible bridge’s grand opening on Friday, June 21. The 100-metre accessible bridge and two large education platforms embrace the gold standards of accessible design, including a 10-foot-wide deck, appropriate sight-lines for people in wheelchairs and strollers, gentle slopes, handrails and benches. The impressive span was made possible with generous support from the Government of Canada, through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), and the…
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August 01, 2024
Tree planting protects properties against extreme weather
RIDEAU AND MISSISSIPPI WATERSHEDS, July 31, 2024 – This summer’s weather has been unpredictable at best: torrential rains, extreme heat and even a recent tornado on Christie Lake near Perth. With this volatility becoming the norm, planting trees on marginal land or unused fields can help protect your property by reducing erosion, creating windbreaks, improving drainage, providing shade and more. And, comparatively at least, it’s not expensive. The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) offers generous tree planting subsidies for rural landowners in the Rideau and Mississippi watersheds with at least 1.25 acres of suitable land. The full-service program includes customized tree planting…
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August 01, 2024
Try Forest School this summer during Baxter’s drop-in days!
KARS-ON-THE-RIDEAU, August 1, 2024 – If you’ve always wanted to try Forest School, now’s your chance.Baxter Conservation Area in Kars will offer Summer Forest School Drop-In Days throughout the month of August for both kindergarteners and school-age kids. Kids aged 4 to 6 (or turning so before Dec. 31, 2024) can register for half-day sessions from 9 to noon on August 23 and 28. The cost for half-day sessions is $30 per child plus HST. Kids aged 6 to 10 (or turning so before Dec. 31, 2024) can register for full-day sessions from 9 to 3 on August 9, 14, 26…
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WESTPORT, June 24, 2024 – Catching frogs, roaming the woods and exploring the outdoors are what summer is all about, and Foley Mountain has added a new suite of summer programs to help make it happen. Family programs such as pond study, bug exploration, survival skills and geocaching will be offered the first Saturday of the month and on four Fridays throughout the summer. Every second week beginning July 16, forest school sessions will be offered Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Unlike school-year forest school programs, all of these programs can be booked one at a time, so residents and cottagers can…
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July 16, 2024
Free workshop aims to stop spread of invasive species
MANOTICK, July 16, 2024 – Invasive species can wreak havoc on our native ecosystems, but a free community workshop aims to help local residents and community groups identify the region's most problematic invaders so they can stop them from spreading even further. Staff from the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority will host the workshop on Saturday, July 20 at the authority’s headquarters at 3889 Rideau Valley Drive in Manotick. From 9 a.m. to noon, participants can enjoy presentations as well as hands-on displays of invasive plants and animals. “The more people know about invasive species and how to stop them, the better,”…
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RIDEAU VALLEY, June 3, 2024 – In many ways, 2023 was the Year of the Bridge for the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority. In its recently released annual report, it’s clear that 2023 was an extremely busy and productive year for all departments as they built bridges both real and figurative across the watershed. In the most literal sense, staff completed the construction of two much-needed accessible pedestrian bridges at Baxter Conservation Area and Chapman Mills Conservation Areas, which will benefit the community for decades to come. But staff also spent time connecting with valued partners, expanding their knowledge of the watershed…
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May 02, 2024
Book it to Baxter to visit new Storybook Trail
MANOTICK, May 2, 2024 – Forests are full of stories, and now Baxter Conservation Area has added another in the form of a permanent Storybook Trail. Thanks to a generous grant from the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation (TD FEF), a series of displays now dot the popular and accessible Fiddlehead Trail, beginning at the Interpretive Centre. Each case offers a single page of the featured story, allowing families to read together as they move along the trail. Fun activities and challenges that relate to the story also encourage kids to dive deeper into the natural world around them. “This…
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February 05, 2024
Groundbreaking report highlights environmental concerns, shifts across Rideau Watershed
RIDEAU VALLEY, February 5, 2024 – A new detailed analysis from the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) has found many parts of the Rideau River Watershed are changing fast – and not always with positive results. The RVCA’s 193-page Watershed Conditions Report is the first of its kind in more than 50 years. It compiles recent and historical monitoring data to assess trends regarding surface and ground water quality, aquatic ecosystem health, hydrological function, natural hazard risks and the status of critical green infrastructure such as wetlands, forests and natural shorelines. The analysis found several concerning trends including a continuing steep decline in…
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December 04, 2023
Land donation protects 360 acres of wetlands, forests at Motts Mills
LOMBARDY, Dec. 4, 2023 – A broad swath of sensitive wetlands, forests and meadows will be protected in perpetuity thanks to a generous land donation near Hutton Marsh this fall. The private land donation from Bill and Heather Griffith will be rolled into the RVCA’s abutting Motts Mills Conservation Area, adding 215 acres of wetland, 70 acres of mature forest and 75 acres of meadows suitable for species at risk like bobolink and butternut. It will also protect another 2.4 km of natural shoreline in perpetuity. It's the second time the Griffiths have donated land to the RVCA. The first…
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October 12, 2023
Story Trail combines love of reading, outdoors at Foley Mountain
RIDEAU LAKES, Oct. 12, 2023 – Book it to Foley Mountain Conservation Area this fall to catch its latest family feature: a permanent Story Trail near the Interpretive Centre. Thanks to generous community funding with support from the Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation (RVCF), this new activity includes a series of permanent, weather-proof displays installed along the Jack Herbert Mobility Trail. Each stop displays a new page of the featured book so families can read along as they follow the 400-metre accessible path. “We’re excited to bring so many of Foley Mountain’s core values into one project,” said site supervisor Rebecca Whitman, who helped…
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