Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Beachgoers in the Ottawa region have hardly had to avoid the water this summer after weeks of E. coli testing showing low levels in the city's monitored beaches. Katy Alambo, a biologist with Ottawa Riverkeeper, says that while it's difficult to predict a trend from summer to summer, this season is shaping up to be much better than last. "So far, so good. The majority of the beaches have been testing really well," Alambo said.
Ottawa swimmers have faced the summer buzzkill of E. coli bacteria before, but this time human sewage isn't the culprit. Blame it on the goose poop. The City of Ottawa thought it had solved the bacteria problem at its worst hit beaches when it built a sewage storage tunnel to prevent sewage from overflowing and contaminating the Ottawa River.
Swimmers in Prescott and Russell can feel confident in water quality at area beaches, particularly along the fast-flowing Ottawa River, according to a biologist with the group whose research inspired the City of Gatineau to conduct daily testing on its beaches. A grassroots charity, Ottawa Riverkeeper brings together volunteers, communities, businesses and all levels of government to find solutions to problems that threaten the health of the river. The City of Gatineau recently announced it is now conducting daily water quality tests at all its beaches in response to recommendations made by Ottawa Riverkeeper in a study released in 2020 on the municipality’s beaches. The full report can be found here.
