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 water quality advisory is being issued for the Wilderness Mountain area due to elevated concentrations of manganese. This water quality advisory is in addition to the existing boil water advisory for the Wilderness Mountain water service area. According to the Capital Regional District (CRD), manganese is a naturally occurring element that is present throughout the environment and can normally be found in many surface and groundwater sources.
According to a Capital Regional District official, finding free-living nematodes, even deceased ones, at a drinking water tap in the Greater Victoria Drinking Water System is highly unlikely. “While Greater Victoria’s drinking water is unfiltered, it receives multiple stages of disinfection treatment that would kill any aquatic organism before the water reaches the consumer’s taps,” said Andy Orr.
A new 30-year plan for the Greater Victoria water supply proposes nearly $2 billion in infrastructure spending, including $1 billion for the region's first-ever water filtration plant. The Capital Regional District's (CRD) water experts say a growing population and the impacts of climate change mean they need to access more water, and do more to clean it, before sending it into households. Ted Robbins, the head of integrated water services for the regional district, said while the expense may seem large, these projects are "absolutely necessary for this region, in terms of providing a safe and reliable water supply."
Victoria and surrounding municipalities are no longer dumping untreated sewage into the ocean — much to the delight of our neighbours south of the border. Washington state Governor Jay Inslee, who has a house on Bainbridge Island, is among those welcoming news that, after four years of construction, the Capital Regional District’s $775-million Wastewater Treatment Project has begun treating sewage at the McLoughlin Point plant.
Since Salt Spring Island's only public laundry facility closed in 2016, resident Cherie Geavreau has wanted to open a new one, but there's a big obstacle in the way. The local authority that regulates and distributes the island's water has placed a moratorium on water usage, and hasn't yet decided whether to allow the larger water pipe that Geavreau needs to run the laundromat efficiently.
