Rideau Blog

Today I decided to get the kayak out and go for a paddle on the river. It was a little on the chilly side, but I put on some neoprene gloves and a wind breaker.  The warm clothes, combined with having to paddle hard against the current, managed to keep me very warm.

The river is still pretty high from all of the recently melted snow, and is running very fast. It was surprising how strong the current was in areas that usually do not have any noticeable current in the summer. I have been kayaking for many years, and I also used to white water kayak, but I decided to stay close to the shore as much as possible. The Rideau is not that wide, and I did not expect to flip over, but if something did happen, it was going to be a chilly swim.

It was great to get out on the river again, and I saw lots of ducks and geese along the shore. There were also lots of pieces of wood, logs, and I even saw part of a dock. I guess that the high water, is causing more things to be floating down the river that you would see in a normal year.

In the loast and found department, here is a dock that is sitting at the South end of the Long Island in Manotick.

If you live in the city of Ottawa, and want to know if you are in the flood plain, the city of ottawa has a great online map. You can find it at the following link. To use it, you need to have java enabled, and enable the flood plain view since it is not enabled by default.

After you log in, you can zoom in, or just enter your address, and it will automatically zoom in on your address. Once you have zoomed in, just click on the 2008 Draft Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw radio button, and you will see the flood plain on the map.

I am sure that the map is getting lots of hits from people living along the Rideau, Jock River, and and South of Manotick. It turns out that part of my property is in the flood plain.