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.
Unseasonable warmth over much of British Columbia is showing no sign of easing, with another day of temperature records in the books and many regions reporting no significant rain since early July. Environment Canada says 11 daily maximum temperature records were set Wednesday across parts of Vancouver Island, the Central Coast, the southern Interior and southeast B.C. At 26.9 C, the Pemberton area broke a record that has stood since 1908.
The unpredictable fluctuations of Manitoba Hydro's finances was a drain on Manitoba's books last year — but now appears to be benefiting the province to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. The government's finance officials are now projecting Hydro's revenues at the end of the fiscal year will jump from the initial $120 million forecast to an estimated $585 million, which it attributes to higher water levels and increased export prices.
On this day in 1914, the City of Edmonton was under a court order to clean up its act when it came to dumping sewage into the North Saskatchewan River. The injunction had been handed down by a justice that January and meant, according to the city’s lawyer, that Edmonton would have to halt building any new sewer connections that put additional waste into the river. It also gave the city two years “to construct a proper disposal plant,” according to a short item published in an Edmonton newspaper. The story indicates that both the province and the city tried to get the injunction softened, to no avail.
With the Edwards Lake siphon in place, that means the community has guaranteed water supply until early November, the SCRD's manager of infrastructure services Remko Rosenboom says. But, that comes with disquieting caveat: 'After Edwards, there are no defined, guaranteed supplies left.' As of mid-day on Oct. 5, siphons on Edwards Lake are set to start adding water to the Sunshine Coast Regional District’s (SCRD) Chapman water system. Testing was successfully completed and with regulatory approvals in place, the SCRD’s manager of infrastructure services Remko Rosenboom says that means the community has guaranteed water supply until early November.
When it comes to conservation education, there’s no better setting than outdoors in nature. Thanks to an exciting new partnership between Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) and Dr. Martin LeBoldus Catholic High School, hundreds of Regina students will have the chance to do just that. DUC and Regina Catholic Schools are pleased to announce the launch of the Regina Wetland Centre of Excellence (WCE), the 27th WCE in Canada and only the second in Saskatchewan. This innovative program will help Regina students become conservation leaders and environmental stewards through hands-on and experiential wetland education.
On a feedlot in central Alberta, nearly 100 kilometres northeast of Calgary, researchers gathered to watch as floating islands were launched onto a pond created by runoff water. To people driving past on a nearby dirt road, it might not look like much. But the islands are the result of years of research and testing that could help the feedlot business recycle wastewater to the point where it could be used on crops or for cattle. And it could go beyond just that.
Regina is taking the final steps toward having new automated water meters installed at every business and home in the city. On Wednesday, the city's executive committee signed off on new bylaw amendments that will help clear the path for the introduction of the new technology. City council must still vote on the changes at a future meeting for them to become reality. According to a report by city staff presented to executive committee, the new meters align with the city's goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
After three parched months, much of B.C. is experiencing drought and ongoing hot weather has left streams running dry, leaving no way for some salmon to return to their spawning grounds, killing hundreds in a mass die-off on the province's central coast. The situation has scientists and salmon watchers concerned. The Pacific Salmon Commission initially projected a return of 9.8 million fish to the Fraser River this year. By August, predictions were reduced to 5.5 million. This was readjusted again, on Sept. 28, to 6.8 million. There were record-low rainfalls in September, and dry weather and heat has continued into October, a month known for rain. For some migrating salmon, that lack of moisture is proving deadly.
The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte – Kenhtè:ke Kanyen’kehá:ka will soon have more reliable safe drinking water at 320 more residences thanks to 21 kilometres of new water main infrastructure. Chief Donald Maracle and the Council of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte (MBQ) hosted a sod-turning ceremony on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, at the corner of Beach Road and Young Street in Shannonville, marking the beginning of the third phase of the project, which has the long-term goal of contributing to the lifting of five long-term drinking water advisories in the community.
In the spring of 2018, Health Canada proposed a ban on all agricultural uses of two insecticides, thiamethoxam and clothianidin. Health Canada scientists said the insecticides, known as neonics, were accumulating in ponds, creeks and other water bodies near agricultural land. The concentrations were harmful to midges and mayflies and therefore posed a threat to birds and other animals that rely on the insects for food.
Farmers and other producers in southwest Saskatchewan are experiencing dry fall weather. The lack of rain in some areas is causing "moderate to severe on-site water shortages," according to the latest provincial crop report. "It's just setting us up again for a questionable start for next spring," Garner Deobald, the president of the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association, said. Deobald said most places have seen below average snowfall for the last three or four years. He said the Ministry of Agriculture needs to monitor water quality.
An ongoing drought on B.C.'s Sunshine Coast has caused the region's water supply to reach historic low levels, and local authorities are warning of a "very dire situation" if it continues. The Sunshine Coast Regional District has been at Stage 4 water restrictions since Aug. 31, banning all outdoor use, and an emergency operations centre was established last week to respond to the crisis.
Wet’suwet’en land defenders in Canada are at risk of serious human rights violations as the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline has reportedly begun under the Wedzin Kwa (Morice River), said Amnesty International today. “The decision to allow the construction of the Coastal Gaslink pipeline on Wet’suwet’en lands without the free, prior, and informed consent of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs is a brazen violation of the community’s right to self-determination and a lamentable step backwards in Canada’s journey toward reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Moreover, expansion of fossil fuels extraction and infrastructure is against Canada’s obligation to protect human rights from the worst impacts of the climate crisis,” said Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada (English-Speaking). “Amnesty International Canada calls on the governments of Canada and B.C. to halt pipeline construction in the traditional, unceded territories of the Wet’suwet’en.”
The city of Port Colborne is partnering with Service Line Warranties of Canada (SLWC) to help resident homeowners protect themselves from those expected costs. Through the partnership, homeowners in Port Colborne now have access to optional service plans that assist with the cost and management of common plumbing repairs. Specifically, the service plans provide protection for the water and sewer service lines that connect a resident’s home to the cities system.
Durham Regional Council has reversed recent changes, related to the limits of responsibility for repairs on private property related to sanitary sewer service connections within the Sewer User Rate By-law, which came into effect on July 1, 2022. Effective immediately, the Region of Durham will continue to carry out repairs to sanitary sewer service connections, on private residential property to within one metre of the structure, in accordance with By-law #90-2003.
Results from recent water tests in the Belleisle Bay reveal abnormally high levels of E. coli. When tested in late September, the Belleisle Watershed Coalition determined E. coli levels in the bay were an average 257 per 100 millilitres of water. That's 367 times higher than the average level of 0.7 E. coli per 100 millilitres detected in August. Some of these levels exceed what Health Canada considers to be safe for recreation, which for the measuring technique used, is less than 200 per 100 millilitres of water. In drinking water, Health Canada recommends no detectable E. coli.
Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan say levels of COVID-19 were down in Prince Albert and Saskatoon in the latest tests of wastewater samples. Researchers with the university's Global Water Futures program have been analyzing wastewater samples from Saskatoon, North Battleford and Prince Albert for COVID-19 since summer 2020. The study's results can help predict a rise or fall of COVID-19 diagnoses about a week in advance. The latest samples show the week-over-week SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA load in Saskatoon's wastewater decreased by 36.2 per cent.
At one time, the little blue cabin on the shores of the Athabasca River was brimming with life: a mother, a father and their 15 children coming together to hunt and gather, share family meals and tackle the many chores. “We prayed as a family, we picked berries as a family,” recalls 71-year-old Alice Rigney, whose childhood was spent in the two-bedroom structure in a place called Jackfish, a northeastern Alberta fishing spot.
When ACAP Saint John set out on a four-year study of fish life and water quality in the Saint John Harbour, the environmental group wasn't setting out to answer any big questions. The study, which began in 2018, was designed to set a baseline for the general health of fish populations in the harbour. No one had made an effort to see how many species of aquatic life were in the tidal waters of the harbour, and in what numbers. Roxanne MacKinnon, the executive director of ACAP, said they were surprised by what they found.
Despite tireless advocacy, the federal government is still denying Indigenous communities much of the funding they have requested for discovering the remains at former residential schools and healing programs. Across the country, there are still 32 long-term boil water advisories in effect in 28 communities, and at least 45 short-term drinking waters advisories in Indigenous communities. More troubling, as Indigenous women and girls face an ongoing genocide, the government has failed to build new shelters to help Indigenous women and gender-diverse people and children flee violence.
