Friends of the Carp River (FCR) is an action-based group of volunteers with a proven track record of working together with landowners, recreational users, government agencies, and businesses to improve the quality of the Carp River. Our goal is to encourage improved shoreline management practices, thereby helping to restore the ribbon of life along the river’s length. We will accomplish our goal through constructive engagement with all stakeholders for the benefit of the community. Our intent is neither to hinder nor oppose responsible development, but to simply ensure that all actions lead to improvement in the quality of life in and along the Carp River and its watershed for the mutual benefit of its human and wildlife communities.
Friends of the Carp River is a non-profit corporation incorporated in the Province of Ontario.
We’ve Been Supporting the River Since 1997
The Carp River system extends for approximately 44 kilometres through Kanata and West Carleton to the Ottawa River at Fitzroy Harbour. After two centuries of alteration and intense use, the river has become a degraded waterway, particularly in suburban and agricultural areas. Many of our land use practises have directly contributed to rapid increases in river-bank erosion, siltation and subsequent flooding, overheating, algae growth, loss of fish and wildlife habitat, and low oxygen content.
In 1993, WestCarleton Township’s Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) began an extensive study of the problem. It was quickly established through landowner surveys and workshops that there was much interest in improving the river’s quality of life – both in and along it. It was also revealed that the most effective way to do this was to replant the banks with trees and shrubs, thus restoring the vegetation cover and its stabilizing root structure. By 1997, trial plantings had begun by volunteer community groups.
On the recommendation of the EAC and the Action Plan Coordinator, the Friends of the Carp River was formed. This citizen’s group would collaborate with the landowners and the public, and direct the project. Its goal: to encourage new shoreline management practices, thereby helping to restore the “ribbon of life” along the river’s length.
Today we work with the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority and the City of Ottawa, with active support from the Ottawa Stewardship Council.
Board of Directors
| Position | Name |
| Chair and Treasurer (acting) | Janet Mason |
| Vice Chair | Josée Leblanc |
| Secretary | Julian Romeskie |
| Founder | David Spence |
