The federal government is investing $275,000 in funding for the Ottawa Riverkeeper to put toward community-based monitoring of the Ottawa River Watershed.

The announcement was made by Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna. The funding will be used over two years.

Some people who live along the river, known as citizen scientists, help to monitor the river—measuring things like pollution counts and what species we have or we’re losing.

The executive director of the Ottawa Riverkeeper says this funding has been in the works and didn’t come about as a result of the flooding but says it does reinforce the need for more monitoring.

This comes on the same day Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson sent letters to the Prime Minister and Ontario Premier asking for formal investigations into the 2017 and 2019 floods.