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.
Cochrane has declared a state of local emergency after water line breaks drained the town’s water supply — alongside sewage — into the Bow River, and town officials are pleading with residents to cut back on water use. At a news conference Tuesday, town officials said the effects of the break in water and wastewater lines Saturday have depleted water reservoirs to “critical levels.”
The Town of Cochrane has declared a local state of emergency as it copes with the aftermath of a major pipeline break over the weekend that has left its water reservoirs at critical levels. During a news conference on Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Jeff Genung said he signed off on the declaration because it gives the town legal authority to take "extraordinary actions" to deal with what he called the crisis at hand.
Canadian electricity generation company TransAlta has agreed to acquire a 50% interest in an early-stage 320MW pumped-hydro energy storage project in Canada. The Tent Mountain Renewable Energy Complex is located in south-west Alberta and is currently owned by Montem Resources. TransAlta will pay Montem around $8m upon completion of the deal, as well as up to $17m if certain development and commercial ‘milestones’ are met.
About 50,000 large dams across the world will lose 24-28 per cent water storage capacity by 2050 due to sediment trapped in them, a report by the United Nations Institute for Water, Environment and Health showed. These water reservoirs have already lost about 13-19 per cent capacity to sedimentation, the researchers mentioned. The loss will challenge many aspects of national economies, including irrigation, power generation and water supply, said Duminda Perera, who co-authored the study with UNU-INWEH Director Vladimir Smakhtin and Spencer Williams of McGill University in Montreal.
The Water Security Agency’s (WSA) Conditions at Freeze-up Report says the province is experiencing a dry winter in most areas. Early summer and spring precipitations were higher than normal while the last half of summer and fall experienced soil conditions drier than normal at freeze-up. Southern and central Saskatchewan have adequate supplies of later water reservoirs.
Under the Investing in Canada Plan, the federal government is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and Canada’s rural and northern communities. Infrastructure Canada helps address complex challenges that Canadians face every day—ranging from the rapid growth of our cities, to climate change, and environmental threats to our water and land.
Water treatment operators in Coronach, Sask., had an unwelcome surprise Monday morning when they found the town's water treatment plant had been broken into overnight. This meant the water reservoirs that serve the 650-person town may have been contaminated. The Saskatchewan Water Security Agency has put the town under a 'do not use' advisory. This means the tap water in Coronach should not be used for anything — not drinking, not showers, not even if it's boiled — until the advisory is lifted.
