PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Rideau Lakes Environmental Foundation Announces 2026 Research Grants Four projects to study the impact of docks, long-term lake change, microplastics, and road salt in the Rideau Lake Portland, ON — March 2026 — The Rideau Lakes Environmental Foundation (RLEF), a registered Canadian charity, today announced the recipients of its 2026 Small Grants Program. Four research…
RLEF has been supporting research on lake fish populations, including that Dr. David Philipp and Dr. Steve Cooke for some time. Studies have shown that the Bass populations in Big and Upper Rideau Lakes was declining over time due to preseason catch and release fishing taking male bass away from their nests. Fisheries Conservation Foundation (FCF) is working on a…
December 2025 Dear Lake Friends and Neighbours, As the year winds down and the snow settles on the lake, it’s time to pause and reflect on the value of this special place to our own well-being and that of our families. Time at the lake allows us to reflect and reconnect. We rely on a healthy lake environment for our…
The Big Rideau Lake Association (BRLA) is working with the Rideau Lakes Environmental Foundation (RLEF) and the Upper Rideau Lake Association (URLA) to develop a conservation plan.
RLEF activities are featured in an article in the Westport Review-Mirror, September 18, 2025…
Restoring degraded aquatic habitat is one of the most appealing tools in freshwater conservation.
A study on Big Rideau Lake, published in 2024, tested one such intervention for smallmouth bass spawning habitat — and the results illustrate how difficult translating that logic into practice can be.
Layer by layer, sediment cores reveal centuries of biological and chemical change in lake-bottom sediment. This study looked back more than 200 years — far enough to capture the disruption of canal construction beginning in 1828 — but the most striking finding concerns the past 25 to 30 years. Despite significant improvements in phosphorus levels since the 1970s, the lakes…
His work revisited six lakes in the Rideau Canal system — Big Rideau, Upper Rideau, Lower Rideau, Indian, Lake Opinicon, and Otter Lake — using sediment cores collected in 2019 and 2020 to update paleolimnological studies conducted on the same lakes roughly 25 to 30 years earlier. The approach relies on diatoms — microscopic, single-celled algae whose silica shells accumulate…
The Township of Rideau Lakes has called a public meeting on Thursday August 25th to review the report on the future development of campgrounds. If density, development, water quality and the lake environment concern you, please review the Agenda package (available from the Township web site) and either attend the meeting or contact your councillor to make your opinions known.…
Three Research Projects Funded The Rideau Lakes Environmental Foundation has again funded several research projects that will add to and enrich knowledge of our local environment. Our stewardship of natural resources depends on developing knowledge of how ecosystems function. Your support of the RLEF enables us to ensure we include our unique environment in ongoing research. At the Fisheries Conservation…
Temporary campsite or mobile home park? Changing land use patterns in what were once transient campgrounds pose challenges for the lake environment. Following an interim control by-law passed last year, the Township of Rideau Lakes has begun a study to examine the adequacy of current policies and regulations. An Issues and Options Report has been drafted, and feedback on its…
Dr. John Smol provided an update to the BRLA AGM on the progess and preliminary conclusions from his research on the lake environment funded partially by RLEF. Smol’s group is analyzing the composition of core samples taken from the lake beds of Big Rideau Lake, Upper Rideau Lake, and other lakes in the area. The historic change in the presence…