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.
In addition, the On-Farm Applied Research and Monitoring (ONFARM) program will be expanded and enhanced by an additional $7 million over five years. This program is a continuation from the Canadian Agricultural Partnership and will help farmers understand and communicate best on-farm practices to address and improve their soil health and water quality.
A mild winter has meant not very much ice has formed on the Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair. "This year is an extraordinary year," said Steve Salmons, president and CEO of the Windsor Port Authority. Salmons says the lack of ice means ships have easier time of navigating but it doesn't mean a higher volume of goods moves because most ships are taken out of service for winter maintenance and the locks close seasonally anyway.
Dozens of researchers from across Canada and the U.S. are embarking on a first-of-its-kind study in the Great Lakes region this week to uncover the mysteries of what lies beneath the surface during the winter months. The event dubbed the “Winter Grab” involves bi-national scientists from several institutions including the University of Windsor to fill the knowledge gaps of what takes place in the largest source of fresh water in the world year-round.
The south shores of Lake St. Clair are under a blue-green algae bloom advisory. The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit issued the warning on Friday, saying that people should avoid swimming if the water looks cloudy or like "green paint or pea soup." "Infants and young children [under age six] should not swim or play in the water. For adults and children six years of age and older, they should swim with caution and rinse off after swimming," the health unit said in a media release.
The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing more than $2.5 million to help farmers improve water quality and soil health in the Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair watersheds. Investments increase environmental sustainability and productivity The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing more than $2.5 million to help farmers improve water quality and soil health in the Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair watersheds. Through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (the Partnership), the Lake Erie Agriculture Demonstrating Sustainability (LEADS) initiative will support 220 farmer-led, regionally targeted cost-share projects to help farmers improve soil health and reduce the risk of nutrient losses on their farms located in the Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair watersheds.
A handful of Chatham farms might hold the answer to reducing toxic algae blooms in the Great Lakes. These farms are collecting and analyzing their agricultural runoff, in hope of reducing the amount of phosphorus entering the waterways. It's part of a project, started by two organizations in Spring 2016, which aims to come up with a strategy to deal with toxic algae blooms. Out of that idea for the project — between the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative — came the Thames River Phosphorus Reduction Collaborative.
