Ottawa funding water quality improvement projects

The Canadian government is flowing more than $500,000 into three projects to address water quality in Nova Scotia.

In a recent news release, the federal government announced $554,745 will be split between three Nova Scotia based water researchers to keep pollutants such as plastics and harmful bacteria out of the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Wolastoq-saint John River watersheds.

Saint Mary’s University will receive $195,595 to spearhead a project with the Atlantic Water Network to create an online communitybased water monitoring knowledge hub. The project will provide up-to-date information on creating and maintaining freshwater monitoring programs in the Wolastoq-saint John River watershed and the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence watershed.

Dalhousie University will receive $200,000 to research the risks of current and future climates within surface nutrient loading to coastal waters and the Clean Foundation will see $159,150 to address water quality issues in salt marshes.

Funding for all three projects comes from the Atlantic Ecosystems Initiatives, to be carried out in collaboration with local Indigenous organizations and youth.