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.
A group of engineering students says it's found a way to make drinking fountains available year-round in Toronto, and is calling on the city to pour out the funds to make that vision a reality. The solution sprang from a University of Toronto class project on technology for global development, where five students were tasked with finding a way to make drinking fountains operational throughout the year.
“I love teaching, but it’s great to have extra space and time in my position to focus on research,” says Julia Baird, Tier 2 CRC in Human Dimensions of Water Resources and Water Resilience. “Because of the dedicated funding, I was able to jump into projects immediately,” she says. “I hired a post-doctoral researcher a few months after I started. We ran with some really exciting ideas and now we’re doing something much bigger.” That groundwork enabled Baird to study how a person’s psychological traits — including empathy and the extent to which they believe they can influence outcomes — will affect the person’s attitudes towards water sustainability measures. She and her team have partnered with the Niagara Parks Commission, the Town of Lincoln and World Wildlife Fund Canada on the project.
“Talk to anyone in Salem and they’ll tell you there is no good water,” Municipality of Pictou County Warden Robert Parker said. “You can drill 10 wells in one property and you’ll still not get good water.” The water that people do manage to tap into is often discoloured and has an odour from the minerals in the area. While it’s an aggravation to those living there, it creates a bigger issue, Parker says because it prevents people from wanting to move to the area.
The company is also seeking approval to store tailings in open pits that are no longer being used. The company says this would lower the ecological footprint since right now it removes water from tailings and stores the dry tailings at a tailings storage facility and then stores waste rock at a waste rock storage facility. "Storing tailings and waste rock in exhausted pits would reduce freshwater use and re-use spaces instead of impacting new ones," the company proposal says.
Aecon-EBC General Partnership (AEGP), a consortium led by Aecon (60%) and including EBC (40%), has been awarded the first phase of a $245 million two-phase civil construction contract for the John Hart Dam Seismic Upgrade project on the Campbell River in British Columbia, Canada. The scope of work involves upgrading earth stabilizing infrastructure to improve the seismic resiliency of the existing John Hart Dam.
Israel and Jordan on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to move ahead with a water-for-energy deal after an initial examination of the project found it to be feasible. The idea, first announced a year ago, is for Jordan to build 600 megawatts of solar power capacity that would be exported to Israel. In return, Israel would provide water-scarce Jordan with 200 million cubic metres (mcm) of desalinated water.
Now being constructed by Chandos Construction on the edge of Calgary, the $18-million Taza Water Reservoir won’t be the typical standard reservoir the public largely ignores. With a decorative curvature, although still protective, cedar pole fence, it will be the gateway feature for Taza Park East, just one phase of Taza Park, an environmentally sustainable community being developed by the Tsuut’ina Nation with Canderel.
Nova Scotia's minister of Environment and Climate Change has approved the Goldboro gold project in Guysborough County, but with conditions. "I am satisfied that any adverse effects or significant environmental effects of the undertaking can be adequately mitigated through compliance with the attached terms and conditions as well as through compliance to the other licences, certificates, permits and approvals that will be required for operation," Tim Halman wrote in his decision to Signal Gold president Kevin Bullock. Signal Gold wants to develop the mine. The project includes two open pits, a processing facility, a tailings management facility, waste rock storage areas, as well as water management infrastructure such as collection ditches, culverts, settling ponds and water treatment systems.
The price tag for Ucluelet’s water treatment system upgrades has doubled. During the Feb. 22 regular council meeting, Ucluelet’s director of engineering James Macintosh told council that the original $9.6 million estimate from 2020 was re-estimated in December 2021 at $20.7 million. Ucluelet’s water treatment and capacity upgrades include: improving the Lost Shoe Creek Wellfield with a filtration for manganese removal, improving the Mercantile Creek water source to include a filtration, and constructing a third reservoir near the Highway Reservoir to increase storage capacity.
The lagoon project involved adding a new sewer lift station, new lagoon cell and a new pipe out to the lagoon. The town previously received funding for the project through the New Building Canada Small Community Fund in 2018, which covered two-thirds of the cost. In 2019, the town took out $1.2 million in loans to pay for their share of the project. Water line replacements were another highlight, with 97th Street between 103rd Avenue and 105th Avenue replaced, totalling $135 thousand.
The Regional District of Central Kootenay is spearheading a drive to give more power to local water users to protect their most precious natural resource. The regional government’s Water Governance Initiative (WGI) has just completed the second phase of a project to enable more local input and decision-making power in the management of water systems.
Elliot Lake City Council offered unanimous approval Monday night for a plan to get aging sewer and water lines out of Elliot Lake. Director of Public Works Daryl Halloch asked council to commit nearly half a million dollars to attract a Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) Green Stream grant. The federal and provincial money would be used to help pay the unfunded portion of the project which would see new water and sewer lines installed in the North Industrial area on Timber Road. The city's share is projected to be up to $480,000, or 26.67 per cent of the eligible costs, which would commit the grant application.
The proposed Grassy Mountain coal project in southwestern Alberta has been rejected by the federal government nearly two months after a review panel denied a provincial application for the project. On Friday, federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said he had rejected the project in light of the review panel's report and after a review of additional available information. "The Government of Canada must make decisions based on the best available scientific evidence while balancing economic and environmental considerations," Wilkinson said in a release.
Tataskweyak Cree Nation (TCN) is one of more than 55 First Nation communities in Canada under a long-term boil water advisory and has been for the last four years. On Thursday, the First Nation’s Chief and NDP MP Niki Ashton called on Ottawa to restore clean drinking water. TCN has said the Canadian government has failed to deliver on the promise of clean drinking water for their community. “We can no longer ignore it anymore. We have to fight for our people," said TCN Chief Doreen Spence. "We matter like all other Canadians." Spence said they are left with no choice but to bring the issue – a basic human right – to the United Nations.
Rural communities near Prince Albert want to turn the taps on a $45 million water project. The Town of Shellbrook and the RM of Shellbrook have struck a steering committee with the Prince Albert Rural Water Utility (PARWU), spending $60,000 on studying a new water treatment plant with connecting pipelines to the communities, according to its terms of reference. “I really believe that building a water treatment plant will open the door to other communities to get good water,” noted Brent Miller, who is the steering committee chair and a Town of Shellbrook councillor.
There’s hope at the end of a long water pipe for Verner residents who have endured ‘brown water’ issues for decades. The culprit is high levels of manganese, a naturally occurring mineral in the Veuve River. And it’s been a problem ever since the water plant was built in the 1970s. On Tuesday, West Nipissing council received a report that recommends connecting the community of 1,100 people to municipal water services as the best solution.
The water system expansion project will convert a test well into a production well in the new East Memramcook region. This will expand the capacity and the sustainability of the system and benefit the community by increasing access to potable water. The project will also provide water to residences that are currently not serviced. A booster station and a water storage tank will also be constructed in order to provide sufficient water pressure to residents. This expansion will also provide a secure water source for an additional 175 users.
The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation is expanding its water system to deliver clean drinking water to hundreds of residents who have been grappling for more than a decade with seven drinking water advisories. The Bay of Quinte is on Lake Ontario and the First Nation is not remote or isolated. It’s just off Ontario’s Highway 401, between Toronto and Montreal. Chief R. Donald Maracle said his community has suffered from a lack of safe water since 2008, due to fecal, bacterial and algae contaminations. A regional drought made many groundwater wells go completely dry in 2017.
The Semiahmoo First Nation has been under one of the longest continuous boil water advisories in Canadian history, but this recommended health safety practice will finally end sometime in 2021. Earlier this month, the First Nation held a ceremony recognizing the City of Surrey’s opening of the Semiahmoo Water Tie-in Connections to the water distribution system.
Pays Plat Chief Peter Mushquash emphasized the importance of protecting Lake Superior for future generations during a Dec. 15 announcement of water treatment plant investments in his community and Biigtigong Nishnaabeg. “Water is important, it’s very important,” Chief Mushquash says. “That’s where we get our water, right out of Lake Superior. So we have to look after that Lake Superior. We have to be very careful with our water.”
