Cannonballs at Dow's Lake: Return of swimming marked at new recreational dock
Article content
Swimming at Dow's Lake is now permitted in the first time in more than a century.
Article content
The inauguration of the Dow's Lake recreational dock began with a splash on Thursday as politicians, National Capital Commission representatives and community members cannonballed into the water.
Article content
Article content
It was warm, warmer than the wind that left swimmers shivering after their collective dip.
Article content
Article content
Tobi Nussbaum, CEO for the NCC, was one of those swimmers. He told the Ottawa Citizen, while wearing a drenched watersuit, that he wanted swimming in the capital in the summer to be 'what skating is in the winter.'
Article content
Article content
For many Ottawans, swimming in Dow's Lake is unthinkable. Those feelings were played upon when Nussbaum joked about the parallels to Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, who jumped into the River Seine before the 2024 Olympic Games.
Article content
But Laura Reinsborough, Riverkeeper and CEO at Ottawa Riverkeeper, said Dow's Lake and the Siene were incomparable. The Ottawa Riverkeeper is responsible for testing water quality in Dow's Lake for the NCC, and for the entirety of this year it has passed with 'flying colours,' she said.
Article content
In Ontario and Québec, levels of E. coli, a bacteria of concern that can cause infection and gastrointensional illnesses, must be under 200 per 100 millilitres of water to be considered safe for swimming, whereas in Europe the standard is 900.
Article content
Article content
Article content
'This is excellent, excellent water quality,' Reinsborough said. 'And even after a significant rain event, when we'd expect in an urban area that conditions would deteriorate, Dow's Lake is showing excellent water quality.'
Article content
The Ottawa Riverkeeper will continue to monitor Dow's Lake water quality, five days a week.
Article content
It has been a decades-long wait for Dow's Lake's conditions to improve to meet swimming standards. Throughout that time there have been sweeping changes to area waterways.
Article content
Jennifer Halsall, the project lead on the Dow's Lake dock project and a real-estate advisor for the NCC, said tests for contaminants in the waterways were coming back consistently good, to a point that contaminants were either 'not picking up' or were 'less than half of human health thresholds.'
Article content
Dow's Lake's history has also changed over the years and it is 'very different from the Dow's Lake we would have seen 100 years ago, or even 50 years ago,' Halsall said. For example, what is now Commissioner's Park was once a lumber yard and the shoreline wrapping around the lake didn't exist until 1958.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
12 hours ago
- CBC
Swimming now allowed at new Dow's Lake dock
You can now swim off the NCC's dock at Dow's Lake 22 hours ago Duration 2:22 Social Sharing Grab your goggles and water wings, Ottawa: Swimming is now permitted from a recently installed dock at Dow's Lake. New buoy lines marking off the deep-water swim area were unveiled Thursday, with a separate lane coming soon for swimmers "wishing to get their laps in," the National Capital Commission (NCC) said in a news release. The accessible dock was installed on the lake early last month, along with Muskoka chairs, bike racks and native plants. At that time, the NCC said it was waiting for the results of water quality testing to see if a pilot project allowing swimming would be possible. On Thursday, they said testing carried out over the past year had shown the lake's swimming area has "consistently" met or exceeded health and safety guidelines. "We tested more than 140 different parameters for contaminants, for pesticides, for petrochemicals, for a lot of the things that people worried about. And we didn't see those there," said Jen Halsall, the NCC's real estate adviser. "The data is doing the talking. It's not Jen from the NCC saying, 'Get in there!' It's really the lake telling us what's possible." The Ottawa Riverkeeper will test the water five times a week, Halsall said, with results posted throughout the summer on the NCC's website. 4 metres deep Swimming will be unsupervised this summer, the NCC said, with no lifeguards on duty. The unsupervised area is part of the natural lakebed, meaning it should be used by experienced swimmers only, according to the NCC's website. "Our water depth starts at four metres, and it gets deeper from there," said Halsall, adding that the dock has plenty of ladders, grab bars and other safety features. According to those who jumped in Thursday, Dow's Lake should prove enticing for Ottawans seeking somewhere to cool off this summer. "The water's so fresh! And it's warm, and it's clean," said Ottawa Centre MP Yasir Naqvi, who was on hand for the unveiling.
Ottawa Citizen
a day ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Cannonballs at Dow's Lake: Return of swimming marked at new recreational dock
Article content Swimming at Dow's Lake is now permitted in the first time in more than a century. Article content The inauguration of the Dow's Lake recreational dock began with a splash on Thursday as politicians, National Capital Commission representatives and community members cannonballed into the water. Article content Article content It was warm, warmer than the wind that left swimmers shivering after their collective dip. Article content Article content Tobi Nussbaum, CEO for the NCC, was one of those swimmers. He told the Ottawa Citizen, while wearing a drenched watersuit, that he wanted swimming in the capital in the summer to be 'what skating is in the winter.' Article content Article content For many Ottawans, swimming in Dow's Lake is unthinkable. Those feelings were played upon when Nussbaum joked about the parallels to Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, who jumped into the River Seine before the 2024 Olympic Games. Article content But Laura Reinsborough, Riverkeeper and CEO at Ottawa Riverkeeper, said Dow's Lake and the Siene were incomparable. The Ottawa Riverkeeper is responsible for testing water quality in Dow's Lake for the NCC, and for the entirety of this year it has passed with 'flying colours,' she said. Article content In Ontario and Québec, levels of E. coli, a bacteria of concern that can cause infection and gastrointensional illnesses, must be under 200 per 100 millilitres of water to be considered safe for swimming, whereas in Europe the standard is 900. Article content Article content Article content 'This is excellent, excellent water quality,' Reinsborough said. 'And even after a significant rain event, when we'd expect in an urban area that conditions would deteriorate, Dow's Lake is showing excellent water quality.' Article content The Ottawa Riverkeeper will continue to monitor Dow's Lake water quality, five days a week. Article content It has been a decades-long wait for Dow's Lake's conditions to improve to meet swimming standards. Throughout that time there have been sweeping changes to area waterways. Article content Jennifer Halsall, the project lead on the Dow's Lake dock project and a real-estate advisor for the NCC, said tests for contaminants in the waterways were coming back consistently good, to a point that contaminants were either 'not picking up' or were 'less than half of human health thresholds.' Article content Dow's Lake's history has also changed over the years and it is 'very different from the Dow's Lake we would have seen 100 years ago, or even 50 years ago,' Halsall said. For example, what is now Commissioner's Park was once a lumber yard and the shoreline wrapping around the lake didn't exist until 1958.
Ottawa Citizen
2 days ago
- Ottawa Citizen
City sees 40 per cent dip in rat-related 311 calls
The City of Ottawa appears to be winning its war on rats. Article content In 2024, Ottawans made 40 per cent fewer 311 calls about rats than in 2023, according to a memo to city council from Marilyn Journeaux, a director in the city's infrastructure and water services department. Article content Article content 'Across all data points, the city saw a decrease in the number of rat related calls in 2024,' wrote Journeaux. Article content Article content There were only 512 rat-related calls in 2024, compared to 845 calls in the previous year. Article content Article content There were 72 calls in the first three months of this year. Article content Ottawa Public Health, a secondary source of rat inquiries, received just six calls in 2024, compared with 22 calls the previous year. Article content The report says the city will continue to conduct more frequent garbage cleanup in high-traffic areas and sewer baiting in problem areas. The city also plans to increase public education campaigns in neighbourhoods to address rat problems across the city. Article content The wards with the most rat-related calls last year were: • Ward 12: Rideau-Vanier, 73 • Ward 17: Capital, 43 • Ward 1: Orléans East-Cumberland, 38 • Ward 11: Beacon Hill-Cyrville, 37 • Ward 23: Kanata South, 33 Article content In 2023, the city launched what it called the 'Rat Mitigation Working Group' to bring together representatives from several city departments to develop effective solutions. Article content Article content The co-ordinated approach focused on education, prevention and control measures. Article content Article content Looking ahead, the municipal authorities have instituted a number of measures, including a Rat Sightings Reporting Tool for residents to alert the city of possible problems. Article content
