The Rideau River is a Canadianriver which flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the Ottawa River at Rideau Falls in Ottawa, Ontario. Its length is 146 km. The river was given the French name "Rideau" (curtain) after the appearance of this waterfall.
The Rideau Canal, which flows from Ottawa to the city of Kingston, Ontario on Lake Ontario, was formed by joining the Rideau River with the Cataraqui River. The river diverges from the Canal at Hog's Back Falls in Ottawa.
To respond to concerns of residents, the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton (as the region was formerly named) joined the Canadian Museum of Nature in 1995 in a study of the quality of the River's water, its microscopic algae, and the spread of zebra mussels (an invading exotic species).
The length of the RideauRiver to be studied was stretched from Smiths Falls to the Ottawa River.
The RideauRiver Biodiversity Project was initiated with the goal of recording the River's biodiversity, of determining its bill of health, and of working towards its preservation, all with the close co-operation of the community.
The length of the river is 1,271 km and it drains an area of 146,000 km².
Following the retreat of the glaciers from this area at the end of the last ice age, the Ottawa River valley was flooded by an arm of the Atlantic Ocean known as the Champlain Sea.
In 1832, the Ottawa River was connected to Lake Ontario via the construction of the Rideau Canal.
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