All about Whitewater

The New Whitewater Ontario, actively pursuing issues for the good of Ontario paddlers:

Letter to MNR:

Robert Taylor
Director of the Lands & Waters Branch
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
P.O. Box 7000
300 Water Street
Peterborough, Ontario
K9J 8M5


I understand the Ministry of Natural Resources has a Renewable Energy
Program in place to facilitate, among other things, the development of small hydro-power projects in Ontario.

Whitewater Ontario is a not-for-profit organizaton under the umbrella of Canoe Ontario. Whitewater Ontario is here to serve as the voice of paddlers interests to government and business. We want to increase access to whitewater resources and work cooperatively to develop whitewater recreation opportunities in Ontario and Canada. We are the designated provincial whitewater sport paddling organization and owner/operator of the Minden Wildwater Preserve in Minden. We have a membership of around 500 active members, 6 active clubs, and 25 corporate members across the province.

Whitewater Ontario is very interested in all aspects of river development which may impinge upon the traditional rights of whitewater recreational and commercial paddlers. We wish to establish a dialogue with key Ministry (MNR) Contacts and take steps to ensure that Whitewater Ontario and/or its affiliates will be considered as potential intervenors, committee members and stakeholders of record for the development of new water management
plans in the province.

As an organization, we are responsible for acting in and speaking for the interests of our members - the paddling community.

As whitewater paddlers, our interests often overlap with the interests of hydro-power development. But we understand that is the reality of resource use today, and that the best development is a development that takes into consideration all of the values of a resource.

We are dismayed by case on a Quebec river that is currently being argued in federal court, where a dam owner completely ignored the navigation rights of paddlers in contravention of the Navigable Waters Protection Act.

We believe that the courts are not the place to resolve issues of
conflicting resource use. We believe we can help the province and
hydro-developers work through navigation rights issues on rivers in a
collaborative way.

Whitewater Ontario would like to be directly notified, via email
dispatches, of pending river development projects that may impinge upon traditional whitewater paddling activities including bridges, or dams, which may curtail traditional navigation as described under the Navigable Waters Protection Act and any shoreside development which may curtail traditional access and portage rights.

To this end, please record Whitewater Ontario as a stakeholder of record on all new site applications. We believe the number of new site projects that paddlers will have concerns about will be small. In those situations, we will be able to provide assistance in the public consultation, environmental assessment and impact assessment phases.

Your assistance would be appreciated in achieving these objectives.

Yours truly,


Peter Karwacki

cc to the Minister of Natural Resources the Honorable David Ramsey