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.
You weren't imagining it — last month was an unusually hot and dry July in the Yukon. "Well, it was warmer in June, but boy did [temperatures] ever take off in July," said David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada. "We saw temperatures in the Yukon that were two to three-and-a-half degrees warmer than normal."
Homes in Carmacks, Yukon, that use the village's wastewater treatment plant are now under an evacuation alert as water levels on the Yukon River continue to rise. The plant is at risk of being overwhelmed, and the village doesn't know how much longer it can last, Mayor Lee Bodie said on Sunday. "There may be an evacuation order coming any day," Bodie said.
A flood warning was issued for Carmacks, Yukon, Tuesday as the Yukon River continues to rise near the community. "Low lying areas are currently flooding," reads a news release from the Yukon government's Emergency Measures Organization (EMO). The river level rose by 21 cm in the last 24 hours, according to EMO. Part of the rise is because of rain. The weather forecast calls for more rain on Wednesday and then some clearing.
Yukoners wondering just how high water levels could get this summer should start looking to the skies. Though flood warnings remain in place for the Southern Lakes, Lake Laberge, and the Yukon River at Carmacks, Kat Hallett, a spokesperson for the government of Yukon, said one source of rising water appears to be running out. "What we've noted over the last few days is that rates of rise are decreasing a little bit," she told host Elyn Jones on CBC Radio's Yukon Morning on Tuesday.
Some property owners along South McClintock Road in Yukon have cleared out as Marsh Lake continues to rise. "It's up fairly high and, you know, it's a west wind so the waves pound those sandbags," said John Small, a Whitehorse resident who owns a recreational property on South McClintock Road. Small and some of his neighbours say they were told by emergency officials to vacate their Marsh Lake properties on Sunday.
Yukon emergency officials have issued flood watch advisories for parts of the southern and central territory. The advisories, sent Monday afternoon, say water levels in Teslin Lake and the Yukon River at Carmacks are rising and expected to continue rising over the coming days. A flood watch means that waters are rising and that flooding of areas adjacent to lakes and streams may occur. It is associated with slightly less risk than an official flood warning.
