Mayor announces tentative plan to clean up river

Based on recent consultations with residents, city staff members are recommending councillors spend about $200 million over the next four years to control and reduce sewage flow into the Ottawa River.

Where the money will come from is unclear.

The plan calls for a target of zero overflows “in years with average precipitation,” a city release states. A storage space in the downtown combined sewers area would capture the flow during wet weather and pump it to the R.O Pickard Environmental Centre when it’s able to accept and treat the overflow.

The storage facility could be similar to that already built in Sandy Hill.

“Residents living in the capital city of Canada deserve a historic waterway that is clean and well maintained, and we are committed to ensuring that happens,” Mayor Larry O’Brien said in a statement.

The planning and environment committee is scheduled to discuss the proposal next week.