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.
An update to the process of updating a 100-year-old water treaty on the Milk and St. Mary’s rivers will be given in early May, officials have announced. Two years ago the International St. Mary and Milk Rivers Study Board began reviewing the Canada-U.S. Agreement, which has been in place since 1921. It aims to update the pact, look at options to “improve access to apportionment,” and mitigate the potential effect of climate change on water supply.
An agreement between Canada and the U.S. that has improved and protected the water quality of the Great Lakes and also improved the lives of millions across the basin celebrated its 50th anniversary recently. On April 15, 1972, the two countries signed a water quality agreement to collaborate on the restoration and protection of the Great Lakes. Under the water quality agreement, the two countries engaged state and provincial governments, municipalities and local authorities, First Nations, Métis and Tribal governments, industry, non-governmental organizations and the public in working together to achieve a healthy and sustainable ecosystem across the lakes for the benefit of present and future generations.
The Columbia River Treaty, an international agreement governing the flow of water between British Columbia and six U.S. states, will be 55 years old this year. It has not aged well. The river springs from the Columbia Icefield in the Rocky Mountains of B.C. and winds 1,930 kilometres through the Northwestern United States – Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Wyoming. No other river in North America spills more water into the Pacific Ocean.
