The Ottawa Citizen reports today on the first Ottawa River Summit. Council of Canadians national water campaigner Meera Karunananthan attended the summit.
The article notes, “The summit was a collaboration between the Ottawa Riverkeeper and the National Capital Commission. …Close to 130 municipal, community and First Nations leaders from Ontario and Quebec gathered in Gatineau on Friday to discuss the importance of preserving the Ottawa River watershed.”
“Meredith Brown of Ottawa Riverkeeper said there are numerous threats to the river, including pollution from sewage, landfills and nuclear reactors, dams that affect river flow and climate change resulting in record-low water levels. An increase in chemicals has also resulted in fish feminization…”
“The watershed spans more than 148,000 square kilometres, from the rocky lands of the Canadian Shield in Quebec, through the Ottawa Valley and into the St. Lawrence River.”
The article can be read at http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/gathering+help+Ottawa+River/3452971/story.html. For more on the summit, including a list of participating municipalities and First Nations, please go to http://ottawariverkeeper.ca/programs/ottawa_river_summit_2010_1/.
More on the Council of Canadians water campaign at http://canadians.org/water/index.html. More on our Blue Communities Project at http://canadians.org/water/issues/Blue_Communities/index.html.
