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.
The District of Invermere has issued a second water quality advisory in the space of less than a week. Once again, a broken water main is to blame. The new advisory was issued late yesterday (Tuesday, June 6) and applies to Upper and Lower Lakeview Lane. All residents on those streets should boil water for at least one full minute if they plan to use it for drinking, making ice, cooking, washing food or brushing their teeth.
Homes and businesses along 7th Avenue between 13th Street and 14th Street (that include people with weakened immune systems or those wanting to take extra precautions) are advised to boil water for at least one full minute before drinking, washing fruits and vegetables, making beverages (or ice) or brushing teeth. People can also use an alternate water source if they wish. “We’ve got the water main fixed,” Invermere Mayor Al Miller told the Pioneer, adding that the advisory was issued mostly as a precaution since the water main was in fact opened up during the work. Miller isn’t sure why the water main broke, although he suggested “it may have had something to do with the natural play we sometimes see as a result of winter frost.”
