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.
The European Union should consider immediately scaling up genomic sequencing of COVID-19 infections and monitoring of waste water, including from airports, to detect any new variants given the virus surge in China, the bloc's health chief said. In a letter to health ministers of the EU's 27 members, Stella Kyriakides said the bloc should be "very vigilant" as China lifted travel restrictions on Jan. 8 as reliable epidemiological and testing data for China were quite scarce.
An earth sciences professor says large chunks of ice formed in the Fraser River and washed ashore near Agassiz B.C. were likely caused by unseasonably cold weather from earlier in December. They were first spotted on the shores near the Agassiz-Rosedale bridge Wednesday afternoon, which is about an hour and 30 minute drive east of Vancouver.
Oneida Nation of the Thames officials have announced the cancellation of a conserve water alert in the First Nation, after a serious water shortage was first announced on Dec. 16, followed by the declaration of a state of emergency on Dec. 20. Oneida Nation, located just southwest of London, Ont., originally declared a conserve water alert due to the effect of extreme weather conditions on the First Nation's water supply. This put residents under an order to limit water use with the water reserve in the community's water tower, the primary source of water for the 546 homes and 22 buildings in the territory, at all-time low levels.
Tourists visiting Niagara Falls Christmas Day saw the honourary 8th wonder of the world sporting a new look - the water had turned brown. In a tweet, ECCC Canada said the water looked "chocolate," but you wouldn't want to drink the water roaring down the falls. The temporary makeover was due to winds up to 110 km/h sweeping over Lake Erie for two days prior, coupled with harsh, 9-metre waves that churned debris. So while some of the colour was due to rocks, sand, and other natural pieces of debris some was due to storm sewer backwash emptying into the Niagara River and Fort Erie, Insauga reports.
“You shade the plant that you're growing with a partially transparent solar cell. It provides a little microclimate underneath it, so it conserves water, and then you get more growth,” Pearce explained. Vertical or movable solar panel options allow for plants like corn or wheat to grow high or for tractors to manoeuvre around crops, Pearce added. Outside of fields, solar panels can also be attached to greenhouses roofs or potentially even floated on bodies of water.
Residents of Mississippi's capital are ending the year unable to count on clean running water in their homes after a freezing winter storm brought a fresh crisis to Jackson's beleaguered water infrastructure. Residents of the majority-Black city say their main water treatment plant has been poorly maintained and funded for years. In August, its pumps failed entirely, overwhelmed by historic flooding along the Pearl River, cutting off running water entirely for Jackson's 150,000 residents and about 30,000 people in the surrounding 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.
Birch Bark Coffee Company makes enjoying your morning (or afternoon - we don’t judge) coffee all the more exciting. The organic, fair-trade coffee allows you to appease your taste buds, and support Indigenous communities. Founder Mark Marsolais-Nahwegahbow’s (Ojibwe and Band member of Whitefish River First Nation) mission is to work towards bringing clean drinking water to every Indigenous home suffering from ‘All Water Advisories’ by providing and installing certified water purification systems. For every 100 bags of coffee sold in retail and every 50 online, Birch Bark donates one water purification system to a family in need.
Are you hopeful that the world will soon turn the corner on climate change? The scientific evidence is clear — we have to stop filling our atmosphere with polluting gases that are heating our planet. And yet, the emissions from fossil fuels continue to rise unabated. At this very moment, there are industry lobbyists, politicians and media organizations fighting to prevent any government policies or global agreements that threaten growth in oil, gas and coal production.
Plumbers in London, Ont. say they are responding to an influx of calls for help with bursting pipes following days of harsh winter weather. A fierce mix of rain, ice, heavy snow and chilly temperatures over the holiday weekend left travellers stranded and thousands without power across much of Ontario and Quebec. The London region experienced minimal outages, but extreme conditions have caused pipes in many residences and businesses to freeze and then burst as they thaw.
A London conservationist is hoping people hooked on fishing will use his do-it-yourself receptacles to recycle their lines and keep them from harming wildlife. "It's a lot of litter," said Brendon Samuels, a Western University PhD candidate and coordinator of Bird Friendly London. The tube stations Samuels hopes take of will give fishers a way to recycle their fishing lines after use. The units are designed to keep plastic fishing lines out of London's waters, where fish, animals and birds and get tangled. Small parts such as fishing hooks are also a hazard to smaller animals.
The Vancouver School Board (VSB) says it has worked to find desks for more than 500 students after flooding at an elementary school put the building out of commission for a number of months. School board staff said water pipes at Sir James Douglas Elementary in South Vancouver froze and burst during the recent cold weather, causing extensive flooding. VSB said staff searched for an alternate location for the school's approximately 525 enrolled students.
A recent state of local emergency brought home the global implications of port growth and international trade from Prince Rupert and the severity was outlined in a Dec. 22 letter to the federal government by Jennifer Rice, North Coast MLA. “The city has demonstrated that immediate investment in the water distribution infrastructure is required as a failure would likely require the community to evacuate and completely shut down port operations,” the letter stated. “A failure of this magnitude would jeopardize all of the federal investment, the federal reputation for the Canadian port industry and national revenues.”
The Township of Seguin is notifying residents that all water refilling stations are open for those who need them. On Dec. 26, the township posted on its Facebook page that those without power may be without water and drinking water refill stations at Humphrey Community Centre, Christie Community Centre, Foley Community Centre or Rosseau Community Centre were open.
Lakeshore town officials announced Monday evening that a boil water advisory in place since Dec. 23 for more than 550 properties had ended. Properties in northeast Lakeshore, including Lighthouse Cove, Crystal Beach, Laforet Beach and Couture Beach, were told to boil their water after a water main break Friday morning. “We appreciate everyone’s patience,” said Krystal Kalbol, Lakeshore’s corporate leader of operations. “We’d also like to thank all of our dedicated staff who responded.”
Strolling along the shore of his home on Ault Island, about 30 minutes west of Cornwall, Ont., Cliff Steinburg points to the end of his dock. He says this summer there was less than a foot of water there, making it impossible to launch a boat. While the river has since stabilized, Steinburg worries what next year will bring to a region known for its fishing, beaches, and boating. "This area cannot go through another season like we did," Steinburg said. "It's going to have a major effect on tourism. It's going to have a major effect on all of us living here."
The peak of a so-called king tide has passed without major damage in Vancouver, as flood watches and high streamflow advisories remain posted across Vancouver Island and much of B.C.'s inner south coast. The big tide combined with heavy rain and snowmelt had raised the risk of flooding after pre-Christmas snowstorms. Environment Canada said the tide pushed water levels at Point Atkinson in West Vancouver to a height of 5.70 metres, breaking the previous record of 5.61 metres set in 1982.
Leaders from an Oji-Cree First Nation in Treaty 9 in Ontario say they want the Canadian government to take action to properly compensate all their community members enduring a long-term boil-water advisory, after learning most of them won't be eligible for a class action settlement. In December 2021, Canada's Federal Court and Manitoba's Court of Queen's Bench jointly approved an $8-billion settlement for First Nations living under drinking-water advisories lasting longer than one year.
Ice isn’t generally a welcome sight for vehicles on the road, but a mission to put one on the moon is counting on it. Canada plans to launch its first rover as early as 2026. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) describes the project as an opportunity to develop technologies for deep-space missions, and find a valuable resource to help make those happen.
Saskatoon is experiencing a rise in COVID-19 levels according to the most recent results from a study that tracks the virus in the city's wastewater. The University of Saskatchewan's Global Water Futures Program has been tracking the virus in Prince Albert, North Battleford and Saskatoon via samples taken from wastewater since summer 2020. Saskatoon's viral load has increased by 85.8 per cent from last week's report and is the highest it has been in the past month, according to the study.
