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 team of experts is working to better understand the spread of blue-green algae in Alberta lakes by combining satellite technology with near-simultaneous water sampling. The project, funded through Alberta Innovates, is a collaboration between several groups, including Alberta Lake Management Society (ALMS), the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI), and researcher Rolf Vinebrooke from the University of Alberta.
Crime-fighting C.S.I.-type technology is being applied to wetlands in the Edmonton area, and turning up some surprising results. In September, scientists with the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI) and InnoTech Alberta identified evidence of tiger salamanders in two wetlands. Sydney Toni, a knowledge translations specialist with ABMI, says scientists know that boreal chorus frogs, wood frogs and tiger salamanders have been visiting wetlands in the Edmonton area.
