By Trevor Greenway

The Gatineau River has a green light — 21 of them, actually. 

Or dots.

If you look at the latest water quality results, you will see that the Gatineau River, from Chelsea to Low, has a clean bill of health with every testing site showing either a bright green or darker forest green dot to mark it as “excellent” or “good.” Just one site – the McClinton Creek in Wakefield – has been labelled not recommended for swimming by Friends of the Gatineau River (FOG).

FOG, the organization responsible for testing the Gatineau River yearly, told the Low Down that, while they aren’t concerned about the McLinton Creek area, as it typically tests high in e-coli, they are curious to know why. The McLinton Creek is north of Wakefield, between the village and Alcove. 

“We’re getting involved with Carleton University on a way to identify whether it is human-caused or not,” said FOG director Stephen Ferguson, who tested the river on June 24 and July 1. 

“We want to try and sort of figure out what’s the source of it, but it’s a tricky creek, though,” said Ferguson. “First of all, it’s hard to get out even to take the measurement. And then secondly, it winds through the woods and who knows what’s going into it, and where.”

There are several farms and fields above the creek that could play a factor, but FOG wants to know definitively before it speculates on what’s causing the high e-coli measurements. 

Ferguson said that FOG was pleasantly surprised to see such favourable results, namely in the Mill Road area of Chelsea.  

“All of the sites are in the ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ category, even down in Mill Road, which is where the sewage treatment plant puts out its effluent,” said Ferguson. “That’s kind of the problem there, it’s episodic – sometimes it’s okay, and sometimes it’s not okay. It’s hard to monitor on a continuous basis, but generally the places where people swim and so on, it seems pretty good.”

The Mill Road site this year, as well as a spot near the Alonzo Wright Bridge, came in as “good,” meaning that FOG found between 21–100 fecal coliforms per 100 millilitres of water. 

Last year, both of those sites were deemed unswimmable after results came in at over 200 coliforms per 100 millilitres. 

HOW CAN I PROTECT THE RIVER?

FOG encourages riverfront residents to refrain from using household toxins like herbicides, pesticides and exfoliating cosmetics, as they promote algae growth, affect animal biodiversity and can be found in the fish that residents catch and eat from the river. 

Maintain good septic systems 

FOG encourages residents to “use healthy products” like biodegradable detergents and solutions that can break down in your system. 

Residents should also save water as much as they can, as increased consumption of water speeds up the circulation of the tank and stops the separation of sludge and scum. 

FOG also recommends keeping septic systems away from sheds and swimming pools to promote air circulation. 

Shoreline regulations 

FOG also wants to remind residents of the shoreline regulations, as it is against municipal bylaws in the region to cut vegetation within 15 metres of the shoreline. Permits are required for all docks on the Gatineau River, and private boat launches are prohibited.