Rideau Valley water supply under pressure from hot, dry weather

OttawaThe Rideau Valley Conservation Authority is urging residents and businesses to reduce water use in a major low water level advisory issued for the watershed.People from Ottawa to Westport asked to cut water useCBC News · Posted: Aug 19, 2025 11:03 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours agoLow water levels have conservation authority urging people to limit water useThe Rideau Valley Conservation Authority has issued a level three low water advisory, which means the water supply cannot meet demand. The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) is urging residents and businesses to reduce water use in a major low water level advisory issued for the watershed.On Tuesday the conservation authority issued a level three advisory, which means there is a failure of the water supply to meet demand. It is triggered when rainfall deficits fall below 40 per cent of the long-term average. It adds that 22 days with temperatures over 30 C have further contributed to drought impacts.”Rainfall over the past several months has been highly variable, but overall conditions remain significantly below normal,” the authority said on its website.”Some tributaries are dry as we speak,” said Isabelle Maltais, director of Watershed Science and Engineering at the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority.The advisory is not an emergency, but a call to conserve, she said.”At this point we just want people to be mindful,” Maltais said. “It’s still voluntary, but we ask people to lower their water use.”These conditions aren’t unprecedented, Maltais said, pointing to similar dry spells in 2012 and 2016. Level three is the highest level the conservation authority can declare. If the drought worsens, it will be up to municipalities to impose restrictions.The watershed includes parts of central Ottawa, Smiths Falls, Perth, and Westport.Residents served by the city’s central drinking water system are not subject to the same water supply pressures, as this system draws from the Ottawa River, the authority said, but conservation measures are still strongly encouraged to reduce overall demand.