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

new Water Act

P.E.I. water strategy 'a leaky document'

P.E.I. water strategy 'a leaky document'

While praising the goals of P.E.I.'s recently released water strategy, some water protection groups have some concerns about how exactly it is going to be implemented. The province announced regulations on its new Water Act would come into effect June 11, which would, among other things, end the moratorium on high-capacity wells for irrigation. Permits for irrigation wells would be tied to the creation of a soil conservation plan, and the province will create an open web site where the public can monitor water extraction from high-capacity wells.

P.E.I. government signals end of moratorium on high-capacity irrigation wells

P.E.I. government signals end of moratorium on high-capacity irrigation wells

Nineteen years after the PC government of Pat Binns brought in a moratorium on new high-capacity irrigation wells, the P.E.I. government of Dennis King signalled Thursday that moratorium will soon come to an end. P.E.I.'s much-debated new Water Act and accompanying water withdrawal regulations will come into effect next Wednesday, June 16, a written release issued Thursday by the province said.

Free well testing could be part of larger water discussion, says minister

Free well testing could be part of larger water discussion, says minister

A P.E.I. woman who has been lobbying for years for free well water testing may finally get what she has been looking for as part of larger discussions around the new Water Act. Little Sands resident Lynda Kelly has been writing to various provincial officials making the case for one free water test a year. Kelly said it is an important public health issue, and the $40 cost of the test may be enough to put some people off.

Taking water from stressed rivers during drought not allowed under new P.E.I. Water Act, says official

Taking water from stressed rivers during drought not allowed under new P.E.I. Water Act, says official

An incident last summer where water was drawn for irrigation from the Dunk River in central P.E.I. during a drought would not be allowed under the new Water Act, says the province's manager of water and air monitoring. Bruce Raymond made the comments while appearing before a standing committee of the legislature. Last summer, five farmers in the Kinkora-Bedeque region were allowed to use surface water in the Dunk in August despite that waterway being 5 centimetres below levels when water use should be cut off, according to current provincial regulations.

New irrigation pond raises questions in P.E.I. Legislature Social Sharing

New irrigation pond raises questions in P.E.I. Legislature Social Sharing

Opposition Green MLA Lynne Lund has asked the province to commit to an interim moratorium on large holding ponds used for irrigation. Lund raised the issue in the legislature Tuesday, saying she'd become aware of a new water holding pond for agriculture being built in Queens County. She said she's been told the pond will require several wells to fill it, arguing it will have the same effect as a high capacity well.

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