The Carp River is both an urban and rural river. It originates in the urban part of Ottawa and then moves through the rural areas around the Village of Carp before emptying into the Ottawa River. What happens in and adjacent to the Carp River upstream clearly impacts the health and condition of the river downstream in the rural part of Ottawa.
I submit that common sense and regulations dictate that restoration of the Carp River needs to be approached holistically rather than using the current plan which focuses on the urban reaches upstream.
It is evident that large sections of the Carp River are in a degraded and silted-up state, with portions of many properties along the rural reaches of the river being submerged during the Spring melt. This river is clearly in need of remediation and, in fact, Friends of the Carp River have been working on restoring a particularly degraded section of the river near the Village of Carp. Over the past 4+ years, the Friends have planted upwards of 50 thousand trees along the banks of this rural reach of the river.
The Carp River Coalition believes that, contrary to the current plan, the river remediation efforts should not focus only on the upstream reach around Kanata West, but should instead continue downstream through the Village of Carp. We believe that to do otherwise would be like a plumber trying to fix a long, corroded drain pipe in a house by only unplugging the section closest to the sink.
The Auditor General’s report also points to a need to consider the impacts of upstream restoration on the downstream reaches in the rural area. The audit report states that, since the upstream restoration work is aimed at reducing sedimentation in the upper reach of the Carp River, improvements to the sediment transporting capacity of the river should start at the mouth of the river. To do otherwise would simply
move the problem downstream.
The Carp River Coalition has tried unsuccessfully on a number of occasions in the past to convince the City that the Carp River is a Municipal Drain and, as such, has specific rules and regulations affecting how adjacent landowners can use it to drain their lands. We provided historical documents, and maps of cross-sections of the river, to no avail. However, much to our surprise, we have found on the City of Ottawa’s own website an electronic map highlighting the Carp River Municipal Drain. As can be seen from the map, the Carp River municipal drain starts in the area around Hazeldean and ends well past the proposed Kanata West development area. The restoration work planned for the Carp River, however, only extends down to Richardson Sideroad, which is significantly upstream of the identified sufficient outlet for the river. For this reason, we are concerned that the restoration work does not come far enough downstream.
On behalf of the Carp River Coalition, I urge the City to ensure that the current plans to restore the Carp River are adequately comprehensive to minimize the impacts of development on the health of the river.
Carol Gudz
For the Carp River Coalition
The Carp River Coalition comprises members of the Greenspace Alliance of Canada’s Capital, the Ottawa Group of Sierra Club Canada, Ottawa Riverkeeper and Friends of the Carp River.