OUTAOUAIS – On May 29, the Liberal government announced a federal investment of $275,000 over two years to fund research and community-based monitoring of the health of the Ottawa River watershed by Ottawa Riverkeeper. Pontiac MP William Amos joined the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Catherine McKenna, for the announcement.
OUTAOUAIS – On May 29, the Liberal government announced a federal investment of $275,000 over two years to fund research and community-based monitoring of the health of the Ottawa River watershed by Ottawa Riverkeeper. Pontiac MP William Amos joined the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Catherine McKenna, for the announcement.
The investment will primarily be used to fund community-based monitoring and research by citizen scientists on a set of watershed health indicators identified through consultations with experts in Québec and Ontario, and with Indigenous communities.
“Through community-based monitoring, Ottawa Riverkeeper has already assembled the world’s largest network of citizen scientists tracking microplastics pollution in freshwater. With this investment, we’ll be able to replicate this success with other indicators of watershed health, including several related to climate change such as ice conditions, the spread of invasive species, and toxic algal blooms,” remarked Patrick Nadeau, Executive Director of Ottawa Riverkeeper.
“Recent scientific reports have shown the effects of unmitigated human impact on our environment, everything from unprecedented loss of biodiversity to climate change. We must continue to monitor impacts on our nature and freshwater resources to ensure they remain healthy as the world around us changes,” said a press release from Amos’ office. (AB)
