Poole Creek is one of few cold to cool water streams in the City of Ottawa. It flows Northeast through Stittsville and drains into the Carp River, crossing under Stittsville Main Street and Hazeldean Road. The upper reaches from West Ridge Drive to East of Stittsville Main Street have the coldest water temperatures and supports a brown trout population.
The Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) in partnership with the City of Ottawa has initiated several objectives to protect and enhance water quality in Upper Poole Creek (UPC). These include:
- In depth assessment and monitoring program
- In-stream habitat enhancements and restoration
- Shoreline restoration for areas that are degraded or eroding
- Removing blockages to allow for better flow and fish migration
- Removal of Invasive Species
The first step is to complete a stream assessment of Upper Poole Creek. To do this, the City Stream Watch protocol is being applied during the summer of 2018. This involves a crew of staff and volunteers who wade through as much of the creek as possible and take notes on the locations of blockages, shoreline erosion and invasive species among a number of other habitat characterizations. From this assessment, recommendations for improvements for the most sensitive reaches will be outlined and prioritized.
This enhanced level of monitoring and stewardship is possible due to $65,000 being provided to MVCA from a development project within the Poole Creek subwatershed.
Ongoing initiatives will extend into 2019 and updates will be available from MVCA and the City.
An exciting discovery in Poole Creek occurred this summer when the monitoring crew captured an American Eel, which is listed as an endangered species in Ontario. It is known to be found in the Ottawa River however this is a new recorded sighting for this far up the Carp River watershed. (For more eel info: https://www.ontario.ca/page/american-eel)
For more information on our programs, visit www.mvc.on.ca.
Shad Qadri 