Join MVFN for a paddle on the Mississippi River downstream from Appleton.
Please note NEW departure time of 10 A.M.
Photo Simon Lunn
Leader: John Willis
Location: meet at the departure point, Appleton Bay Park (510 River Rd, Almonte) for departure at 10:00 A.M. Appleton Bay Park is on River Road just below the dam in Appleton.
Bring: lots of water, bathing suit, insect repellent, binoculars, sunscreen, etc. Ensure you are equipped with life jacket, bailing bucket, whistle, heaving line, extra paddle, etc
Lunch: We will be going to the Barley Mow for lunch.
MVFN membership must be up-to-date (check your membership card). You can update and pay for your membership on the MVFN website. You may bring a friend or two, subject to the approval of the trip leader.
Pre-registration: You must pre-register for this event by completing the form found here. If you need to partner up with someone, please contact the leader who may be able to accommodate you.
In case of possible severe weather on the day of the paddle, check your email before 8:00 A.M. for a confirmation. Please inform the leader if you sign up, and are not able to attend.
How to Get There: From Ottawa Hwy. 7 to Appleton Side Rd. 3 km before Carleton Place. North to River Rd. and into Appleton village. Do not cross river.
The Launch Site: Small park below falls.
The Paddle: Explore bay and downriver towards Almonte. Land canoes under bridge beside Old town Hall, take River Walk under RR bridtge to explore downtown. Not recommended during spring flood.
Watch For: Old mill ruins, small hydro generating station, wetland shores. Herons abound. No lunch landing spots.
Seasonal Information: Be cautious of fast currents in spring flood. Warning: waterfalls: do not approach town bridge during spring flood.
FIRST SOURCE PROTECTION COMMITTEE MEETING FOR MISSISSIPPI-RIDEAU
The first official meeting of the newly-formed Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Committee (SPC) will be held on Monday, December 17 at the Baxter Conservation Area near Kars. The 15-members of the Committee and Chair Janet Stavinga will be on hand to “meet and greet” the public from 6 – 7 pm followed by the first SPC business meeting starting at 7 pm. The meeting is open to the public and everyone is very welcome to attend.
The SPC represents the major municipal, business and interest group sectors in the huge area of the Mississippi and Rideau valley watersheds. They are charged with guiding and supporting the source protection planning process over the next five years of research, technical study, public consultation and development of municipal drinking water source protection plans.
Representing all watershed municipalities are Scott Bryce (Clerk/Treasurer, Village of Westport), Alex Cullen and Christine Leadman (Councillors, City of Ottawa), Paul Knowles (CAO, Carleton Place), and Eleanor Renaud (Councillor, Township of Elizabethtown-Kitley). Representing economic sectors are Richard Fraser (agriculture), Peter McLaren (agriculture), Domenic Idone (aggregates), Beverly Millar (small business) and Jim Riopelle (golf courses). Representing public interests are George Braithwaite (rural general public), Carol Dillon (Friends of the Tay Watershed), Patricia Larkin (non-governmental organizations), Randy Malcolm (Algonquins of Ontario) and Mary Trudeau (Ottawa Riverkeeper).
The formation of the local Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Committee is a result of the Clean Water Act (CWA) which was passed by the Ontario Legislature in December, 2006. The CWA is part of Ontario’s response to the Walkerton tragedy of 2000. The CWA prescribes a process of watershed-based research, analysis and actions rooted in good science, public participation and sustained effort for keeping Ontario’s sources of drinking water safe. The province is divided into 19 Source Protection Regions for purposes of source water protection. Each of these 19 regions has a Source Protection Committee directing the production of Source Protection Plans to protect primarily municipal drinking water sources in their area. The Mississippi-Rideau is one of those 19 regions.
Field Naturalists Took Temperature of Mississippi River Watershed
August 17, 2006
by Cliff Bennett
When a child is showing signs of stress, we naturally take its temperature. With the potential of climate change to stress the Mississippi River watershed, the Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists (MVFN) decided to take its temperature. So, from Upper Lake Mazinaw at one end, to the Ottawa River at the other, we took the temperature of lakes and rivers of the watershed. The volunteer driven water-temperature survey, conducted on the August holiday weekend, was one of 75 projects celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Ontario Nature, formerly The Federation of Ontario Naturalists. As an outreach project, the goal was to engage the public in considering the implications of future climate change for the Mississippi River.
The health of our lakes and rivers is important to us: the watershed is where we live and play. Water temperature, levels, flow patterns and distribution of flora and fauna are not static; change can occur quickly in response to various environmental stresses. Water temperature, specifically maximum surface-water temperature, usually occurring during the first week of August in our watershed, is one important control on the distribution of aquatic plants and animals which can be measured.
Eighty to one hundred people, MVFN members and other volunteers, thermometers and home-made water-samplers in hand, set out in canoes, row boats and motor boats to take the watersheds’ temperature in the perfect weather of August 5-7th. From families in rented canoes, people in motor boats, and those sampling from bridges and docks, we thank all participants who helped make the survey a success! Please send in your location and temperature data if you have not already done so, as information on all lakes and river sections within the watershed is valuable. Raw data will be archived with MVC and the field naturalists.
The water-temperature survey project was a result of nearly a year of planning by MVFN organizers, coordinated by Cliff Bennett and including Paul Eggington, Michael Macpherson, Michael McPhail, Howard Robinson and Pauline Donaldson. Of course, MVFN could not have completed this Herculean effort without partnerships with Lake Associations, local Fish and Game Clubs, and volunteers from NRCan, to which heartfelt thanks and congratulations are extended. Special thanks go to Mississippi Valley Conservation (MVC) staff member Susan Lee and summer student Tom Thistle, whose efforts in contacting and encouraging the Lake Associations were outstanding.
In all, an estimated 500 plus temperature readings were collected, both at the surface and one metre deep across the watershed. Collected at a single point in time they will provide a baseline of data on temperature distribution across the watershed. The baseline can be used for assessing future change. In addition, lake associations and other groups can use the data in a more specific way, for example to look at temperature variations within their lake or river area to locate useful sites where data loggers could record future change as it happens. Already, as a result of this project, temperature loggers were installed by lake conservationists in Buckshot Lake, Clayton Lake and White Lake, and plans are underway to install them in additional places. Valuable ongoing monitoring work also continues to be done by volunteers such as Lake Stewards and organizations such as MVC and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.
Future climate change is only one environmental stress which may change our watershed. The provincial government and MVC have now begun serious consideration of the implications of future climate change. Hopefully, our work will encourage the local public to engage in discussions about how we can manage future change. Just what is at risk and how can we best adapt to changes that are already underway?
Once all of the water temperature results are in, MVFN will prepare a summary report of the 2006 water-temperature survey for public release. Copies will also be sent to participating groups and individuals and posted on our website at www.mvfn.ca. For further information on this or other MVFN projects, please contact MVFN President Michael McPhail at 613-256-7211 or .
How to Get There: North from Almonte on Hwy. 29 to Pakenham, or from Ottawa, north on Hwy. 417 to Kinburn Side Rd. and west to Pakenham and over Five Span Stone Bridge.
The Launch Site: In Pakenham, find park behind public school. Launch at swimming beach.
The Paddle: Upriver to foot of Blakeney Falls.
Watch For: Beautiful shorelines, herons and other birds. Indian Creek through tunnel under roadway, shoreline wild flowers. Lunch site at Falls.
Seasonal Information: Good until freeze-up. WARNING: Don’t get swept downstream from this launch site during spring flood.
