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.
Gene Runtz is worried. As the mayor of McBride, B.C., he is staring down the barrel of a potential water shortage this winter that could leave residents and firefighters desperate during a prolonged drought season. The village, about 180 kilometres east of Prince George in central B.C., declared a state of emergency on Sept. 19 and restricted water usage the following day while under Stage 5 drought conditions — the highest level on the province's severity scale.
A state of local emergency has been declared in a village in central British Columbia as drought increases in severity across the province. As of midnight Wednesday, residents of McBride, a Robson Valley community about 180 kilometres southeast of Prince George, are prohibited from washing vehicles or the exteriors of buildings, filling up swimming pools, or watering lawns and gardens.
