RGB spokesperson speaks about the return of large aquatic vegetation to Cootes Paradise

News Anchor Matt Ingram spoke with Royal Botanical Garden’s Aquatic Conservation Program Senior Ecologist Jennifer Bowman about increased vegetation near Cootes Paradise.

If you’ve been out enjoying the summer on the trails or roadways near Cootes Paradise in the west end of Hamilton you may have noticed it looks much different than in years past.

You can see large swaths of dense aquatic vegetation on the surface of the water and the Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) of Canada say that’s a good thing!

In a recent update on its website the RBG says the plants are a sign that the waterway is returning to its natural state as a marsh.

The RBG says it’s the third consecutive year of large-scale regeneration of aquatic plant communities.

Even below the plants, the RBG says the water itself is becoming much more clear and clean.

This regeneration comes after the City of Hamilton pled guilty and was fined millions of dollars for allowing 24 billion liters of sewage to spill into the waterway through Chedoke Creek between 2014 and 2018.

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