The Lower Rideau Subwatershed is the final subwatershed through which the Rideau flows. The City of Ottawa occupies the confluence of the Rideau River and the Ottawa River. Consequently, the Lower Rideau is the most densely-populated and urban of all the Rideau subwatersheds. It shows the full array of transportation, housing, hard surfaces and land uses — all of which put pressures on our local streams. Starting at Burritts Rapids (and the junction with the Middle Rideau subwatershed), the Lower Rideau flows gently through the farming communities in North Grenville and the former Osgoode and RideauTownships, past the burgeoning suburbs of Manotick, Barrhaven, and Riverside South before splitting from the Rideau Canal at Hogs Back. With the force of the Hogs Back Falls behind it, the river pushes through the heart of the city and over the Rideau Falls to the Ottawa River and eventually the St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean.
Drainage Area: 765 square kilometres Length of River: 70.6 kilometres
Catchments:Arcand Drain,Barrhaven Creek,Black Rapids Creek,Brassils Creek,Cranberry Creek,McDermott Drain,Mosquito Creek,Mud Creek,Murphy Drain,Nepean Creek,Rideau River — Hogs Back,Rideau River — Kars,Rideau River — Long Island,Rideau River — Rideau Falls,Sawmill Creek,Stevens Creek