Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

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.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

Agriculture Canada

Nova Scotia farmers worried about water use amid dry spring

Nova Scotia farmers worried about water use amid dry spring

A Nova Scotia farming group is concerned about the amount of water being used for agriculture this spring, but a provincial hydrologist says underground water levels are normal for this time of year. The current conditions have prompted Agriculture Canada to classify much of Nova Scotia as "abnormally dry," and categorize Truro and part of the Annapolis Valley as having a moderate drought. "It's getting to a point now where things are really drying out," said Allan Melvin, a sixth-generation farmer from the Annapolis Valley and president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture.

‘Bone dry or soaking wet,’ water study faces extremes

‘Bone dry or soaking wet,’ water study faces extremes

Farmers learned a lot from the real-world whiplashing experiment you could call “Farming in 2021-22.” “Make sure your dugouts are deep enough,” said Ridgeville, Man., farmer Neil Claringbould, when asked what he learned from the brutal drought of 2021, as he showed other farmers and researchers one of his new water retention dams on a stream on his land. How about 2022? “We weren’t short of grass.”

Irrigation shows early promise for reducing nitrate pollution from farms

Irrigation shows early promise for reducing nitrate pollution from farms

Preliminary research on P.E.I. farms shows that irrigating potatoes helps the plants better use nitrogen in fertilizer, so it doesn't end up leaching into the environment. The research by the Living Lab Project — a partnership of Agriculture Canada, the East Prince Agri-Environment Association and the P.E.I. Department of Agriculture — is in its third year. Provincial soil and water conservation engineer Tobin Stetson said the early field trial results are replicating results from previous federal research farm testing.

'Extreme' drought in parts of Sask.: Ag Canada

'Extreme' drought in parts of Sask.: Ag Canada

Todd Lewis, the president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, said it has not been this dry on his farm near Regina since the 1980s. Lewis said farming practices have changed since those drought years to conserve moisture in the soil. 'We manage our water better but we still cannot replace rainfall.' He said it is especially tough for cattle farmers, as dugout levels are low. Lewis and other farmers are hoping May and June bring rain.

GUEST OPINION: Who is the special interest group?

GUEST OPINION: Who is the special interest group?

A special interest group is, by definition, “a group of people or an organization seeking or receiving special advantages, typically through political lobbying”. I have been involved in the development of the Water Act since its humble beginnings in 2015. I read all the public comments and heard many of the presentations. A very large majority – not a vocal minority, as these organizations repeatedly claim – expressed genuine concerns over the threats to water in the province.

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