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.
University of Regina researchers say the amount of SARS-CoV-2 circulating in the city's wastewater remains high, but is down from previous levels. The latest analysis for the week of Oct. 30 through Nov. 5 showed a mixture in COVID levels for the cities studied. Analysis of the City of Moose Jaw's wastewater shows an increase in virus, putting that city's COVID levels at a moderate-high level.
The City of Moose Jaw is hoping for full compliance when it begins installing new smart water meters in homes starting this October. The project will see over 12,000 meters replaced over two years with smart meters that can be read remotely and give more accurate readings. The city has hired Neptune Technology Group Canada to do the installations. “My own involvement in working with Neptune is that they are a well-positioned company to do this work, and they've seen it all before. They haven't been surprised by any of the questions that we've posted to date,” said Director of Engineering Bevin Harlton. They will have four installers working weekly, averaging 160 installations per week and 640 installations per month. The installations will come at no extra cost to the homeowner.
City council gave the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant the go-ahead to borrow $60 million to fund its plant renewal project. The plant hasn’t had a major renewal in over 30 years. The project is expected to cost $252.8 million. Recently, the water treatment plant received $163.4 million from the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program and $29.4 million will come from existing funds that Buffalo Pound has in reserves. The loan principle and interest is expected to be repaid by Buffalo Pound through water rate charges to the cities of Moose Jaw and Regina. Moose Jaw uses about 15 per cent of the water supply.
