Few complaints about Ottawa's new extended beach season
As the City of Ottawa's beach season ends, It's hard to find Ottawans upset with council's decision to keep lifeguards on duty for an extra week in August.
In March, councillors voted to move $31,000 from a temporary pool closure over to keep lifeguards on duty until the fourth Sunday in August instead of the third.
Staff had been asked to look at different options for a longer season when in 2015, the beach season ended at the beginning of a heat wave.
On the second-last day of supervision, people at Westboro Beach west of downtown Ottawa said they were thankful for the decision.
"We're delighted because last year we thought it shut a bit early," said Catherine Webster, who lives nearby and goes to Westboro Beach often.
"We had lots of good weather into the fall and it seemed sad the beach was closed when it could have been open."
"It certainly seems to be happening more and more where the summer expends even into September sometimes," said David Sutherland, a Glebe resident at Westboro Beach with his three young children.
"It's difficult to get through those last few weeks before school when no one even wants to go outside [because] it can be too hot sometimes. The beaches and pools make the difference for us."
City councillors also decided to find funding for the extra week in future years.
When lifeguards aren't on duty, people can still access the beach but going in the water is at their own risk.
'Money well spent' for non beach users
In rural Manotick, about a 20 kilometre drive from the closest city beaches, you'll find people who don't swim there — but who still agree with the extra week.
"From a public good usage perspective I think that's probably money well spent. If someone could enjoy [one more] weekend, I'm all for that," said Terry Horaski, who lives in Ottawa's rural west end.
"I see people learn a lot when they go out to beaches and waterways… especially kids who like to hunt around and find creatures, they look at the algae, the plant life, the insects, everything," said Manotick's Sharon Smith.
"It's a great way to keep kids interested in learning and the outdoors."
Make it longer?
Some people were wondering Saturday if the season could be made even longer.
"It would definitely be a great idea, if you think about global warming maybe we're going into longer seasons now," Webster said.
"Just go ahead and [extend the season], it's a long, long winter in Ottawa and we need all the beach life we can get."
Rideau-Vanier councillor Mathieu Fleury said he'd love to keep beaches open longer but staffing is a challenge.
"If you look at the demographics of lifeguards, they're either in high school, Grade 11 or 12, or they're in college or university," he said.
"Many of them study outside of the region so we don't have all the abilities to pull staff and open beaches in case there's warm weather next weekend."
In Gatineau and Gatineau Park, beaches are supervised until Sept. 5 this year.
