Approval Process:

Depending on what work you wish to do on your property, you may have to make a formal application for a permit to the local RVCA for replacing a dock, tearing out a breakwall, building a garage, etc. It's even a good idea to check before proceeding with shoreline plantings etc. It can take several months to get permission.

Proposal to the RVCA Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (rideauvalley.on.ca):

1. Draw a scale drawing of your property.
2. Indicate high and low water lines, banks, breakwalls.
3. Add your project to the drawing, indicating which zones it will affect (littoral, shoreline, riparian, upland), include full details and goal.
4. Provide your name, contact information, address, river name and location, lot and concesson number
5. Optional: Latitude/longitude, photos
6. Include a copy of your lot map, signed and dated (hand-drawn is fine)

Shoreline Improvement

It is your responsibility to ensure shore projects do not hurt fish habitat. Does your shoreline provides areas for fish to spawn and ducks to feed?

Floating and pipe docks have the least effect on water life so are easier to get approved. If wood is used, use untreated cedar or redwood, safer for aquatic life and YOU.

If you remove a breakwall, pound it into small pieces. Reduce the shoreline slope to 25 degrees or less. Line the bank with geotextile filter cloth to keep soil from washing away. Rip-Rap is a layer of stones that can replace a vertical breakwall. Shrubs such as dogwood and sweet gale and vegetation will prevent soil erosion and attract wildlife.

What's under the ice

Frogs, turtles, and insects settle into dormancy in the mud at the bottom of the river in winter. Muskrats remain awake beneath the ice, eating the roots of waterlilies and other water plants. They will even eat dormant frogs if they find them.

During winter, pike remain active in the colr water under the ice, eating small fish that remain in the weeds.

Insect larvae slow down, but continue to feed on insects, tadpoles, and tiny fish among the waterlilies. In spring, they transform into adults and eat mosquitoes and black flies - a very good service to us all!

Be kind to the river

Get your lawn off drugs! Pesticides (a generic term for lawn chemicals, weed killers, insect chemicals) cause problems for water life - plants, fish and birds. They are also not healthy for our kids. Research shows a correlation between "weed killers" and human disease.

Most fertilizer you spread on waterfront lawn eventually ends up in the river, causing too much algae and weed growth. A light layer of organic material or grass clippings is better. If you must use granulated or liquid fertilizer, never apply before a rain.

Use detergents and soap with NO phosphates - they also cause algae and weed growth in nearby rivers. Try to reduce chemical detergents used for dishwashing, shampooing and cleaning. Upgrade old septic systems to minimize leakage.

Links

• RVCA Rideau Valley Conservation Authority <rideauvalley.on.ca>
• Ottawa Septic Systems Office
• Green Communities Association: alternatives to lawn chemicals, shoreline management
• Cottage Life Magazine: The Shore Primer and The Dock Primer
• Home and yard links (The Manotick Directory)