Citizen Water Watch – Report a Sighting

Algae Bloom

Noticing green algal blooms or excessive aquatic plant growth in your lakes or rivers? You can now easily report it! The Citizen Water Watch website (www.citizenwaterwatch.ca) allows recreational water users to report any observations of green algal blooms or excessive aquatic plant growth to a central data base. These observations will help to better monitor green algae and aquatic plant growth in Eastern Ontario lakes and rivers.

Whether you are an angler, boater, paddler, swimmer or any water enthusiast, we are asking you to report what you are seeing on the water that you use. Information about when, where and how often algal blooms and excessive aquatic plant growth are occurring will help develop future research on the causes of green algal blooms and excessive aquatic plant growth in local lakes and rivers. This information will also help us gain a greater understanding about the algae and aquatic plant growth in the waters that we cherish.

The first phase of the Citizen Water Watch website has been created as a part of The People, Aquatic Plants and Healthy Lakes: Finding the Balance in Eastern Ontario’s Lake Country Project. This project, being done by a collaborative group consisting of Friends of the Tay Watershed, Carleton University, Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority and Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, is being funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

Algae and aquatic plants are a part of a healthy aquatic ecosystem but in excess they can put stress on other organisms in our lakes and rivers. Many local recreational water users have noted an increase in algae and aquatic plant growth, despite little observed change in nutrient concentrations which are often the cause of algal blooms and excessive aquatic plant growth. Reporting observations of algae and aquatic plants will help us better understand the excessive plant growth and find ways to improve aquatic environments.

To report a sighting go to www.citizenwaterwatch.ca, create an account and click on the “Report a Sighting” tab, fill out the form and hit submit. Knowing the name of the waterbody and nearest town where your observation took place as well as a picture will be helpful information to include.

For more information about this project, visit http://rvca.ca/programs/algae_watch/index.html or contact Kaitlin Brady, RVCA Algae Watch Project Coordinator at 613-692-3571 ext. 1154 or kaitlin.brady@rvca.ca or Mike Yee, RVCA Biology and Water Quality Manager at 613-692-3571 ext. 1176 or michael.yee@rvca.ca.