Friends of the Carp River

"Volunteers dedicated to restoring the ribbon of life along the Carp River. "

Our Activities

The Friends of the Carp River will not be holding a community tree planting in 2008. We have decided to devote our energies to supporting a new initiative called the Carp River Green Banks program, which is an offshoot of the City of Ottawa’s Green Acres program.

We will provide further information and a web site later. For now, please check out the following Ottawa Stewardship Council web site and scroll down until you find:

Carp River Green Banks – Shoreline Restoration Program

Kanata West Development

For those of you interested in some background on the Kanata West development, please check out these web sites:

http://www.storm.ca/~river/

http://greenspace-alliance.ca/node/163

http://ottawariverkeeper.ca/

Our Goal

The Friends of the Carp River (FCR) is an action-based group of volunteers working together with landowners, recreational users, government agencies, and businesses to improve the quality of the Carp River. Our goal is to encourage new shoreline management practices, thereby helping to restore the ribbon of life along the river's length for the natural benefit of its human and wildlife communities.

The Carp River is a navigable waterway that comes under the jurisdiction of two Federal Acts - the Navigable Rivers Protection Act and the Fisheries Act. The Carp River watershed is located in the former municipalities of West Carleton, Kanata, and Goulbourn. The headwaters of the system are in the Glen Cairn area of Kanata just south of the Corel Centre, wherefrom the Carp River flows north into the Ottawa River at Fitzroy Harbour. At 42 km long, it is the only river that flows entirely within the boundaries of the City of Ottawa.

Results from the Carp River Watershed Study

The City of Ottawa conducted a Carp River Watershed/Subwatershed Study due to concerns about the health of the river's ecosystem and rapid growth pressure on the upper portion of watershed at the Corel Centre and along Terry Fox Drive. The Carp River Watershed/Subwatershed Report Card was released in October 2001 and contains the following statistics:

Overall degradation as a percentage of degraded or altered length of the main channel has increased from 70% as measured in 1993 to 80% at present.
Silting problems were identified in 83% of sites measured, 89% of which are affected by agricultural tilling practices, 58% by channelization, and 17% by cattle access.
The 40 species of fish inhabiting the river are at risk due to silting and channel alterations.
The southern watershed at Kanata, Corkery, and Stittsville, which is critical to the supply of watershed recharge, shows evidence of declining summer base flow.
The water quality is most severely degraded on small tributaries, with the major causes including phosphorus, nitrogen and bacteria (E. Coli) sourced from agricultural fertilizers and animal wastes.

Why is Natural Shoreline So Important?

The health of a lake or river hinges on the delicate shoreline - the "Ribbon of Life."

Shorelines are breeding grounds, nurseries, food sources, shelter, and hiding places for many species.
90% of all living things in a lake or river are found along the shoreline.
Shorelines are effective natural filters and buffer zones, acting as the "kidneys" for the watershed.
Shorelines help to improve the quality and quantity of ground water.
Polluted run-off is trapped and absorbed by the vegetation, thus protecting water quality.

The complex interplay of plants, animals, land, and water combine to make the shorelines the single most important part of the river ecosystem.

In addition to the ecological benefits of a healthy water system, the Carp River has the potential to provide many recreational opportunities such as canoeing, hiking, bird watching, and fishing. Right now, the river offers few benefits to the community at large.

Our Accomplishments

Since 1997, we have obtained over $100,000 in grants. Volunteers have planted eight sites along the river with up to 50,000 trees and shrubs. Provincial foresters have produced site plans and guidance in planting and maintenance. Trees and shrubs are selected based on their suitability for the shoreline environment: willows, viburnums, dogwood, maple, oak, and ash. We protect each seedling with a 2 foot square carpet "weed mat" that is held down by three "staples" made from bent coat hangers. Even in a very dry summer, the carpets help to shade the roots and hold in moisture.

Helping to restore the ribbon of life will have many benefits for residents of the City of Ottawa:

reduced sedimentation and reduced flooding during periods of high flow in the spring and after heavy rainfall;
improved fish and wildlife habitat;
reduction in the number of migrating geese who eat emerging spring crops in fields;
reduction in fecal contamination;
improved water quality flowing into the Ottawa River; and
improved opportunities for recreational use and the creation of a naturalized corridor.

Background

The Carp River system extends for forty-two kilometres through Stittsville, Kanata, and West Carleton, to the Ottawa River at Fitzroy Harbour. After two centuries of alteration and intense use, the river has become more of a drainage ditch than a waterway. Many of our land use practises have directly contributed to rapid increases in river-bank erosion, siltation and subsequent flooding, overheating, algae growth, loss of fish and wildlife habitat, and low oxygen content.

In 1993, West Carleton Township's Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) began an extensive study of the problem. It was quickly established through landowner surveys and workshops that there was much interest in improving the river's quality of life - both in and along it. It was also revealed that the most effective way to do this was to re-plant the banks with trees and shrubs, thus restoring the vegetation cover and its stabilizing root structure. By 1997, trial plantings had begun by volunteer community groups.

On the recommendation of the EAC and the Action Plan Coordinator, the Friends of the Carp River was formed. This citizen's group would collaborate with the landowners and the public, and direct the project. Its goal: to encourage new shoreline management practices, thereby helping to restore the "ribbon of life" along the river's length.

Today we work with the City of Ottawa, with active support from the Ottawa Stewardship Council and the Rural Clean Water Program.

Join Us

Public awareness of this environmental program is important to its success. Assistance can also be offered in many ways: planting, maintenance, education, coordination, and donation.

For more information on the Action Plan, contact us at: carpriverfriends@yahoo.ca.

Thank You!

We would like to thank the following land owners who not only made their properties available to us for extensive plantings and the subsequent monitoring, but have also taken the effort to protect the seedlings from livestock:

Bruce Munro and Family
Doug Rivington
Kurt Walsh
The Welsh Family
The Brooks
The Cotters
The Greenes
The Cavanaughs

We would also like to thank the following organizations and businesses for their generous support:

The Ontario Trillium Foundation
The City of Ottawa, Rural Clean Water program
The Ottawa Stewardship Council, part of the Ontario Stewardship program
City of Ottawa Community Partnership Tree Planting program
The Mountain Equipment Co-op
_{Kathryn Briggs and Terry Tufts - for a
great Earth Day benefit concert: Kathryn Briggs}and Terry Tufts
West Air - for donating a free plane ride to "Fly the Carp"
1st Dunrobin Scouts - for carpet staples, tree guards, and bird houses
Dan Mayo - for his song about the Carp River
The Carp Agricultural Committee
The NDHQ Fish and Game Club - volunteer tree planters
Katimavik - volunteer tree planters
Loblaws and Ikea
Canadian Waste Services
Community Fisheries and Wildlife Improvement Program
Wilderness Preservation Committee
Carp Quality Cleaners
Carp Country Flooring

Other Web Sites of Interest

Canoeing on the Carp River