Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Christine Colletta, one of the founders of Okanagan Crush Pad, says the winery has been working toward sustainable farming since it opened 11 years ago. She said it moved away from heavier bottles to alternative packaging, which uses less energy, and overall it has tried to reduce water usage. "What we're looking at is all aspects of our business and how we can be smart and lean and cut down the waste," she said.
Summerland will be looking at options for water fill and cooling stations for the community in the event of another extreme summer heat event. At the Summerland council meeting on Jan. 24, Coun. Erin Trainer presented a motion asking for $25,000 to be allocated from the Asset Management Reserve for the purchase of two portable water fill stations and two portable shade tents, and also for staff to research options for a permanent water fill station in Memorial Park.
Ever wondered what a local lake would look like without water? That's the situation at Isintok Lake in the hills above Summerland, B.C., as crews replace an outlet pipe. The District of Summerland, just north of Penticton, emptied the lake, which serves as one of many reservoirs for the town, to fix a century-old pipe in the Isintok Dam. "After years of doing video inspections in the outlet pipes of our dam, we did discover that there was significant leakage in the pipe in Isintok that was near 100 years old," Devon van der Meulen, water utilities manager at Summerland, told CBC's Daybreak South on Tuesday.
