Ottawa Riverkeeper has worked with stakeholders to divert over 1B litres of sewage from being dumped into the Ottawa River.
Ottawa Riverkeeper is a citizen-based action group organized to protect and promote the health of the Ottawa River. Founded in 2001, Ottawa Riverkeeper focuses on projects and programs to encourage responsible use of the river, investigate reports and river concerns, promote compliance with protective regulations, and most importantly, to raise awareness, educate, empower and inspire individuals to take action.
Initiatives led by Ottawa Riverkeeper include campaigns against sewage spills (1.2 billion litres in 2006) and pressuring the City of Ottawa to roll out the Ottawa River Action Plan, a $200 million investment in infrastructure to reduce and ultimately eliminate sewer overflows. Ottawa Riverkeeper has also released The Riverkeeper’s River Report, an 80 page bilingual and comprehensive health-check for the river, and the only publication to identifying indicators of change for current and future river threats.
This year, Ottawa Riverkeeper is organizing the first-ever Ottawa River Summit, gathering over 200 municipal, provincial, federal and First Nations leaders to take the first steps toward establishing a joint-protection strategy for the river.
