Your partner in risk management, resource conservation and stewardship

Rural Clean Water

Home > Citizen Science & Stewardship > Rural Clean Water

The Ottawa Rural Clean Water Program (ORCWP) provides funding for projects that protect surface water and groundwater quality. It is delivered in partnership with the City of Ottawa and the three Conservation Authorities within its jurisdiction (Mississippi Valley Conservation, Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, and South Nation Conservation) to offer more localized landowner service and more consistent delivery of landowner grant programs.

Eligible project categories include:

  • Buffers, windbreaks and land retirement
  • Livestock restrictions from watercourses
  • Stream bank stabilization
  • Well decommissioning
  • Education initiatives
  • Controlled tile drainage and outlet protection
  • Chemical/fuel storage
  • Clean water diversion
  • Manure storage and wash water treatment
  • Nutrient management plans
  • Precision farming
  • Grassed waterways

ALUS Lanark

The Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority and the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority are partnering to deliver the ALUS Lanark program, an agricultural stewardship program aimed at producing, enhancing, and maintaining ecosystem services on agricultural land. Delivered within the boundary of Lanark County, ALUS Lanark is made possible with the financial support of ALUS Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada.

ALUS Lanark is a community-based and farmer-delivered program that provides expertise and financial support to farmers, as well as annual payments to ensure the ongoing stewardship of ecosystem services on their land.

The program supports the following types of projects on marginal, ecologically sensitive, or inaccessible land:

  • Wetland creation, enhancement, or restoration
  • Reforestation, windbreaks, shelterbelts, and buffers
  • Grassland restoration
  • Pollinator habitat and wildlife food plots
  • Delayed cut and delayed grazing
  • Erosion control and livestock exclusion
  • Habitat structures
  • Other ecologically beneficial projects

To be eligible:

  • Projects must be within Lanark County.
  • Landowners must have a valid Farm Business Registration Number.
  • Projects will not replace existing habitat with a new habitat type.
  • Projects will not remove more than 20% of land from farming operation.

To get started, head to Rideau Valley Conservation Authority’s Rural Clean Water Application Page to access supporting application documents.

If you have any questions, you can contact ALUS Lanark Coordinators via the Rideau Valley Rural Clean Water Program at 613-692-3571 ext. 1136 or by email at rcwp@rvca.ca