Super User
Surface Water Quantity
Current Water Conditions Statements
(flooding or drought conditions)
Water plays a central role in all activities within a watershed. The rain that falls on the ground flows to the river and sustains all forms of life. All physical and biological activities within a watershed are intimately connected to water. Therefore, the knowledge of its occurrence, distribution, movement and functions is indispensable in understanding a watershed and all the living beings therein.
Within the Rideau Valley, water levels and stream flow, precipitation and snowpack have been systematically recorded for many years.This information can be analyzed to understand various aspects of the water cycle (or hydrologic cycle) and their impacts on the watershed. Monitoring streamflow and precipitation allows water managers to identify risk-prone areas and better respond to drought or flood conditions.
Surface Water Quality
The RVCA has gathered information on surface water quality since the early 1970s. Today, the RVCA collects data four water quality monitoring programs:
- Provincial Water Quality Monitoring Network (Water Chemistry)
- RVCA Baseline Monitoring Program (Water Chemistry)
- Watershed Watch (Water Chemistry)
- Benthic Invertebrate Sampling (Water Biology)
Results from these monitoring programs are reviewed and reported on through our catchment and subwatershed reports.
Water Biology
Benthic invertebrates include:
- aquatic insects (e.g. stoneflies, mayflies, caddisflies, beetles, true bugs, true flies)
- crustaceans (e.g. isopods, amphipods, crayfishes)
- molluscs (e.g. snails, clams, mussels)
- annelids (e.g. leeches, oligochaete)
- and a few other groups (e.g. proboscis worms, flatworms)
The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority has sampled benthic invertebrates since 1997 at various sites throughout the watershed. These efforts compliment the RVCA's extensive water chemistry sampling program. Benthic invertebrates are great barometers of pollution. Some can tolerate pollution while others are very sensitive to instream pollution. By sampling stream-bottom invertebrates the program can determine changes in stream water conditions and levels of pollution over time.
As part of the Ontario Benthos Biomonitoring Network (OBBN), RVCA staff follow a provincial protocol for sampling in streams, lakes, and wetlands. A total of three replicates of samples are collected at each of the site locations and are brought back to the RVCA lab for identification. Once identified the samples are run through various indices, which are then analyzed and observations can be made. Overtime trends and patterns of the data can be studied and water quality issues can be addressed by using best management practices in areas of concern.
Results from our water biology sampling can be seen in catchment and subwatershed reports.
VIDEO: Benthic invertebrate sampling in the Jock subwatershed
Groundwater
Groundwater has only recently been recognized as a vital natural resource. Ground water is an important source of drinking water for many in the Rideau watershed. Contamination of local groundwater is a growing concern and groundwater flow in bedrock aquifers has only recently started to be characterized (theory, methods, tools and models specific to fractured rock aquifers). Groundwater as a “science” is still young.
Since 2005, RVCA has been coordinating the Source Protection Program for the Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Region (MRSPR). This work has involved undertaking a number of technical studies and the development of source protection plan policies for the MRSPR to protect shared municipal drinking water sources within our watersheds. Additional information about the local source protection program is available here: mrsourcewater.ca
Currently, the groundwater program at RVCA is small and primarily focuses on being a source of expertise for municipal planning services related to rural drinking water. The program also provides support to development applications near wetlands and groundwater recharge and discharge areas.
RVCA looks to learn more about our groundwater resources and their specific roles in the local hydrological cycle. We monitor and gather information at 16 wells at 13 locations in the Rideau Valley as part of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change’s (MOECC) Provincial Groundwater Monitoring Network (PGMN). The main goal of the PGMN program is to undertake long-term regional groundwater monitoring in order to be able to identify potential changes in groundwater quality or levels. RVCA also partners with provincial agencies, local municipalities and academia for special projects related to groundwater information management, subwatershed studies and groundwater surface water interactions.
Biology and Ecology
The streams and rivers in the Rideau Valley watershed are home to a variety of plants and animals.
RVCA staff collect information on the physical conditions of the watershed — vegetation, wetlands, shorelines, land uses. We also look at fish communities and benthic invertebrates. We look see how aquatic and terrestrial creatures interact with their environment. All this information is used to create a picture of the conditions of our streams, lakes, rivers and overall watershed. In turn, this information will set the management direction for the future.
Information is compiled and summarized in RVCA catchment reports and subwatershed reports.
Erratic Rains means “Severe” Drought Condition Continues
The drought status in the Rideau River watershed remains at “Severe” because sustained flows in the streams and rivers have not been restored.
As has been the case all summer, rainfall has been very erratic with significant amounts recorded at some monitoring stations and very little at others. There has been enough rain in the last two weeks to make many watershed residents forget that there is still a drought. Lawns are green. Farm crops are close to being ready for harvest.
“Severe” Drought Condition Continued
Recent heavy but localized rain was not sufficient to change the drought status in the Rideau River watershed from “Severe.”
Streamflows and lake levels continue to decline throughout the watershed. At the climate station at Kemptville, 44 millimetres of rain was recorded on September 10. Both Smiths Falls and Rideau Ferry received 26 but all of 2 mm was recorded at the station at Innisville east of Perth. Where the heavier rainfall occurred, levels increased but they quickly fell back to where they had been.
Contact Us
Rideau Valley Conservation Authority
PO Box 599, 3889 Rideau Valley Drive
Manotick, Ontario K4M 1A5 (corner of Prince of Wales & Rideau Valley Drive)
Hours of Operation: 8:30 a.m to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday
Phone: 613-692-3571 | 1-800-267-3504 (toll-free)
Fax: 613-692-0831
The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority is headquarters to :
Ottawa Septic System Office
Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Office
LandOwner Resource Centre
Planting Days and Invasive Species Removals
Watch for dates to help us plant trees and shoreline shrubs. Our Shoreline Naturalization Program, City Stream Watch Program and various other special projects often look for people to help.
Rideau Valley Conservation’s stewardship projects offer opportunities to get your hands dirty while taking action in your community. We partner with private landowners, watershed residents, municipalities, and agricultural and academic communities to protect and enhance our natural environment. From habitat enhancement, to tree plantings and clean-ups, your efforts will have an immediate and positive impact on the local environment, and contribute to long-term sustainability.
Follow our volunteer calendar for upcoming events.
Spring Outlook
Winter 2016 took an unusually long time to arrive and has had trouble staying. Now it looks like it may be leaving early.
A record snowstorm on February 16, some rain on the 24 followed by cold has made for a frosty start to March. Conservation Authority staff measured the snow on the ground on March 1 finding the depth and water equivalent to be slightly above the historical average. The snow that fell on Tuesday night and into Wednesday has increased the snowpack to about 25 percent above normal for the time of year.
Weather forecasts indicate that temperatures will rise through the coming weekend and into next week to above freezing with little precipitation. That trend is expected to persist for at least the next two weeks. Generally, spring is forecast by The Weather Network to be warmer than normal and drier although there is the possibility of some further snow events and brief periods of cool temperatures.
If the warm temperatures come as forecast, much of the snow can be expected to be melted and water levels and flows to rise gradually over the next two weeks. This gradual process is expected to bring a minor peak with only low-lying areas along rivers and lakes likely to be inundated this spring.
City of Ottawa crews have begun the annual ice removal program on the Rideau River between Bronson Avenue and Rideau Falls. With the thaw expected next week and thinner ice than usual to start with, it may be easier going than in past years (more information: City of Ottawa information at 311).
Water levels on lakes and flows in the streams are presently at or slightly above normal for the time of year as a result of the January weather and thaws that happened through February. With the changing levels that can be expected over the next weeks, ice cover on lakes, ditches, local streams and rivers will be increasingly unstable. Caution should be exercised by everyone when near local waterbodies. Parents should inform their children of the risks and provide appropriate supervision.
RVCA will continue to monitor conditions and will issue further statements when or if there is an indication that the situation can be expected to change significantly.
RVCA Watershed Conditions Statements:
Water Safety – High flows, unstable banks, melting ice or other factors that could be dangerous for recreational users such as anglers, canoeists, hikers, children, pets, etc. Flooding is not expected.
Flood Outlook – Early notice of the potential for flooding based on weather forecasts, calling for heavy rain, snow melt, high winds or other conditions that could lead to high runoff, cause ice jams and/or lakeshore flooding or erosion.
Flood Watch – Flooding is possible in specific watercourses or municipalities. Municipalities, emergency services and individuals in flood prone areas should prepare.
Flood Warning – Flooding is imminent or already occurring in specific watercourses or municipalities.
