Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

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.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

Washington State

Farmers raise alarm over polluted water flowing in from Canada

Farmers raise alarm over polluted water flowing in from Canada

"We’re right on the border," said Fred Likkel, the executive director of Whatcom Family Farmers—pointing to parallel roads, which represent the border on a remote stretch of road near Double Ditch Stream. "There’s no other answer than it’s coming directly from Canada." The stream Likkel is standing alongside is one of five main drainages that originate in Bristish Columbia and flow into Washington, all draining into the Nooksack River and eventually downstream to Portage Bay and the Lummi Nation’s primary shellfish growing areas.

'No easy solutions' to cross-border flooding that has devastated both B.C. and Washington State

'No easy solutions' to cross-border flooding that has devastated both B.C. and Washington State

On a cool, damp evening, at a recent community meeting at a high school gym in northwest Washington, area residents voiced anger over inaction they believed had led to disastrous flooding. And they wanted to know from public officials what was going to be done to make sure it didn’t happen again. Residents pointed to the last major flood in 1990, which, like this one, had also driven devastating flood waters from the Nooksack River across the border to Abbotsford.


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