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.
Climate change is leading to lakes becoming less blue, with many at risk of permanently turning green-brown, a new study has found. Conducted by the American Geophysical Union, the study presents the first “global inventory of the lake colour,” and takes into account changes in water colour to determine water quality. While a specific time frame wasn’t offered, researchers said that one in 10 lakes can expect to change colour in “the future.”
The mayor of Hay River says she'll keep "pounding the table" when it comes to the issue of dredging — or lack thereof — in the community's shipping channel that pours into Great Slave Lake, and she hopes "people are listening." Hay River is a hub for Canadian Coast Guard operations and shipping further North. However, in parts of the channel is a buildup of sediment, which sometimes creates obstacles for boats passing through.
One of the constant responsibilities of the project team is to prevent the underground from flooding — so that water doesn't come into contact with the arsenic trioxide and threaten to carry it elsewhere. Right now, water underground is pumped into the northwest tailings pond year round. Every summer, water in the tailings pond is treated and discharged into Baker Creek, which flows into Yellowknife Bay. Rather than treat water three months per year, a new water treatment plant is being built that will treat water year round. Construction on that plant is set to begin in 2023, and is expected to be done by 2025. Once it's up and running, the northwest tailings pond won't be needed to store contaminated water anymore — allowing the project team to start remediation work there.
The city of Hamilton has resumed cleaning Chedoke Creek and, despite a request, won't consult the local Haudenosaunee community, on whose traditional lands the creek sits, before the dredging begins again. The dredging of the creek after a spill of 24 billion litres of sewage and stormwater into the water was planned to begin Aug. 22. It was paused to allow for consultation with the Haudenosaunee Development Institute (HDI) on how it may impact treaty rights and the environment.
First Onsite Property Restoration (First Onsite), one of Canada’s largest disaster recovery and restoration providers, announced today that it has entered into a partnership with Alert Labs, a provider of solutions for real-time water usage monitoring, flood detection, and analytics. The partnership will help First Onsite’s commercial clients proactively minimize water damage, reducing emergency repairs and disruptions to building services while improving water conservation efforts.
Coastal GasLink has now been warned more than 50 times about environmental violations during construction of its natural gas pipeline across northern British Columbia, according to the province. In an email to CBC News, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change said it had issued a total of 51 warnings, 16 orders, and levied two fines — penalties of more than $240,000 "for repeated non-compliance" — since construction on the pipeline started in 2019.
Ontario’s labour ministry is investing a workplace injury that occurred Tuesday at the Lou Romano Water Reclamation Plant in Windsor. A ministry inspector has been assigned, but few other details about the injury or who was involved have been released by the ministry regarding the incident that occurred at the city’s sewage treatment plant on the city’s west end off Ojibway Parkway. “It was reported that one worker sustained an injury while operating machinery,” said a ministry official who indicated the investigation remains ongoing.
In anticipation of Hurricane Fiona, Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is sharing the following tips and advice to help keep you, your family and property safe. "A hurricane can cause extensive damage regardless of its category. Being prepared for any severe weather event is important for your personal and financial security," said Amanda Dean, Vice-President, Atlantic, IBC. "We want to ensure that residents in Atlantic Canada are ready for strong wind or heavy rains that Hurricane Fiona may bring to the region. Even a significantly weakened hurricane can carry winds strong enough to cause widespread destruction."
The past couple of years has shown us that extreme weather events — from devastating floods to extreme heat — are becoming the norm. But even in light of this and amidst a summer of sun and storms, many Canadians’ homes aren’t protected from the very real threat this kind of now-to-be-expected weather poses. According to Vice President of Claims at TD Insurance, Craig Richardson, a survey of Canadian homeowners conducted by TD Insurance in 2022 revealed that “just over half of Canadians (51%) either don’t have extended water damage coverage or don’t know if they have coverage, yet one in five Canadians have experienced water damage to their homes.”
The new equipment will help Dr. Helen Baulch (PhD) examine specifics of how extreme Prairie weather and seasonality affects water security in a region that has long fought to maintain water quality. Dr. Asmahan AbuArish (PhD) will work to uncover the key molecular players behind cases of inflammatory pulmonary disease, using fluorescence imaging and molecular biophysics expertise. Dr. Jenny-Lee Thomassin (PhD) will use specialized technology to better understand bacteria proliferation in complex real-world environments.
Friday is looking like it will mark a milestone of 51 days of drought in sun-drenched Chilliwack. However it it rains, as forecast earlier in the week by Environment Canada, it means the longest ever dry spell on record for Chilliwack, 51 days set in 1951, will be broken on Sept. 23. If it doesn’t rain, it means the stage 4 drought level, that the Lower Mainland entered on Sept. 15, will continue.
Farms in the City of Delta and elsewhere could benefit from residuals from the treatment process that makes our drinking water safe. Metro Vancouver’s Water Committee at its Sept. 7 meeting received an update report on beneficial uses of drinking water treatment residuals, generated by the Seymour Capilano Filtration Plant consisting of sediments, naturally occurring organic matter and treatment chemicals.
A woman whose husband saw a "wall of water rushing toward them" as the pair fled a massive torrent released from a North Vancouver dam is suing Metro Vancouver's regional district for negligence. The notice of civil claim filed by Chihiro Nakamura nearly two years after the incident says she and her husband were sitting on a rock in a shallow part of the Capilano River below the Cleveland Dam when they heard a rushing sound.
What does water mean to you? Researchers from Algoma University’s School of Business and Economics, in conjunction with Water Wise want to know. The groups are conducting community-based action research on Blue Economy and Freshwater Entrepreneurship that focuses on the economic development surrounding the nexus of the upper Great Lakes (Lake Superior, Lake Huron, and St. Mary’s River). The team is currently gathering this information through a survey called Blue Economy and Freshwater Entrepreneurship Survey, 2022, which will "recognize the challenges and opportunities to a sustainable Blue Economy," a press release issued by the university today states.
Another major project expected in 2023 is construction of a year-round water treatment plant, which will allow the cleanup team to stop storing water on-site for much of each year, in turn hastening the speed at which the site can be remediated. A lot of the work still to come involves, at least in part, managing water and reducing the risk contamination of that water might pose.
Water and sewer services in Kamloops will cost you a little bit more over the next five years. The City of Kamloops will be increasing water rates by one per cent in 2023 with sewer rates going up 2.5 per cent, translating into a combined increase of $16 on average for a Kamloops homeowner. Utility Services Manager Greg Wightman says Kamloops has Canada’s most complex water distribution system owing to the topography and the way the city has grown through sprawl.
What was it like to win the Stockholm Junior Water Prize? I was absolutely honoured and a little bit overwhelmed. I am very honoured to be representing Canada, especially women and girls in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), especially in smaller communities. I am very excited as water science and water justice are huge passions of mine. So, to be able to achieve something at this level is extremely incredible.
With the global push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, many communities across Southern Alberta are already leading the way in implementing innovative and equitable climate solutions. The new Mobilizing Alberta Climate Action Grant program out of the University of Calgary’s Office of Sustainability aims to help strengthen capacity for advancing climate action across Southern Alberta.
Today, Saskatchewan communities and eligible organizations may start submitting funding applications for proposed water, wastewater and other projects under the last intake in the province for the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP). “We encourage applicants to provide their project submissions as early as they are able to so communities can put shovels in the ground as soon as possible," Government Relations Minister Don McMorris said. “Our provincial government will continue to invest in infrastructure to create jobs, position communities for growth and continue to build a stronger Saskatchewan.”
Trilliant, a leading international provider of solutions for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), smart grid, smart cities and IIOT, announced the successful implementation of a wireless water metering solution in Canada, confirming its position to support challenging metering projects where strong, reliable connectivity is required. Provident, an energy services and submetering company in the Greater Toronto Area specializing in the multi-residential market, selected Trilliant’s Smart Water solution for a project in Toronto, Ontario, that required a basement metering solution for a number of townhomes.
