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

Georgian Bay

Powering Ontario’s Growth

Powering Ontario’s Growth

In April 2022, the Minister of Energy announced that Ontario is advancing work to develop the Niagara Hydrogen Centre, led by Atura Power. This project would increase the amount of low-carbon hydrogen produced in Ontario by eight times by using excess water at Niagara Falls that would otherwise be sent over the falls to generate clean electricity for low-carbon hydrogen production. This low-carbon hydrogen could then be sold to fuel transportation or industry or injected into a natural gas generating station to lower its carbon intensity.

Water declared safe to drink in Meaford, state of emergency remains in place

Water declared safe to drink in Meaford, state of emergency remains in place

Residents in Meaford have officially been given the all-clear to use their water again after a “do-not-consume” advisory was issued on Sunday. City officials declared the “do-not-consume” advisory over Wednesday night after receiving confirmation from the Grey Bruce medical officer of health, Dr. Ian Arra, that the water from the municipal water system was safe to drink. While the advisory has been lifted, the municipality says the state of emergency remains in place. The municipality issued the emergency Sunday following concerns about contaminants leaching into the ground and the water supply in Georgian Bay around Johnny B’s Automotive and Car Care following the fire.

Emergency declared in Meaford after fire prompts water contamination concerns

Emergency declared in Meaford after fire prompts water contamination concerns

Chief administrative officer Rob Armstrong said they sent water to be tested Saturday to determine if it was contaminated. “We do not believe it’s contaminated. This is to ensure the safety of the residents is in place,” Armstrong told Global News. “The municipality become concerned about water to fight the fire being mixed with burnt materials onsite being mixed with Georgian Bay being (nearby) and then, in turn, being close to our municipal water intake.”

Parks Canada takes action to address elevated water levels on Trent-Severn Waterway

Parks Canada takes action to address elevated water levels on Trent-Severn Waterway

The Trent-Severn Waterway is currently dealing with unusually high water levels in lakes Simcoe and Couchiching due to recent warm weather conditions. Parks Canada opened the discharge valves at Lock 42 to release some water through the Severn and into Georgian Bay. This action, however, has created potential hazards for those in the area, including the possibility of thin ice, fast-moving ice, and fast-moving water.

Ice cover on Lake Superior is less than 5% in the middle of January. Researchers say that's the new normal

Ice cover on Lake Superior is less than 5% in the middle of January. Researchers say that's the new normal

Small groups of people have been taking to the new ice on Thunder Bay in recent days skating, biking ice boating and ice fishing. Yet this fun on the ice has been slow in coming this winter. And they are on thin ice.  The ice formation on Thunder Bay has been slow to form this winter, due to above average air temperatures through December and into January.

Group questions accuracy of IJC's Georgian Bay water-level data

Group questions accuracy of IJC's Georgian Bay water-level data

The need for water quality along Georgian Bay is no mere drop in the bucket. Members of the Georgian Bay Great Lakes Foundation (GBGLF) addressed Tiny Township council at the recent committee of the whole meeting, presenting an update on Georgian Bay water levels and water quality, and asking the township for a letter of support for funding from the federal government.

Lakes Huron/Michigan could see 3.5 foot drop below record low levels by 2030: study

Lakes Huron/Michigan could see 3.5 foot drop below record low levels by 2030: study

A study on water levels projects an unprecedented drop of water levels on Lakes Michigan-Huron and Georgian Bay to 1.1 metres (3.5 feet) below the record low by 2030. By 2040, levels may rise to 0.3 metres (one foot) higher than the 1986 record high. The study by W.F. Baird & Associates Coastal Engineers Ltd. was commissioned by the Georgian Bay Great Lakes Foundation (GBGLF) and was shared virtually by GBGLF on May 16/17. The Baird conclusions are essentially the same as those found in a recently completed five-year study by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), presented during a week-long Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands webinar series from April 4 to 8.

COLUMN: Advice from an island; neglect the water at your peril

COLUMN: Advice from an island; neglect the water at your peril

The island world that I have experienced and observed has come to share with me its wisdom. It has shown me that our natural environment has changed. Alarmingly so. I had first become fully aware of those changes in the early 1990s. At the time I was getting set to cross the channel between Christian Island (Georgian Bay) and Cedar Point on the mainland. I was aboard a snowmobile and it was during this time of year (mid-March). I was on my way to Ottawa to meet with Indian Affairs officials to advocate on behalf of my people as the Chief. I was making a plea for a safer, reliable means of transportation. The ice was still thick enough to hold a snowmobile, but it was degrading quickly. The ferry had stopped running three weeks before and was now at ease in her winter harbour.

Tay gets Georgian Bay water quality update from SSEA

Tay gets Georgian Bay water quality update from SSEA

Overall, drinkable water in Tay is reportedly much better than it was thirty years ago, but there are still areas of concern. Aisha Chiandet, water scientist at Severn Sound Environmental Association (SSEA), provided Tay council with a presentation about the organization’s monitoring and stewardship activities that included a look at compounds that affect water quality. “It's critical that we continue to monitor environmental conditions, maintain improvements that have been made, and continue to invest in environmental protection in order to prevent regressing to conditions encountered when Severn Sound was listed as an area of concern,” Chiandet began.

Lake Huron water levels well off records of 2020

Lake Huron water levels well off records of 2020

There may be a glimmer of hope for wave-weary landowners and municipalities along the shores of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. After Lake Huron set high water records over the first eight months of 2020, lake water levels have been on a significant decline thanks to below average precipitation and more evaporation because of a lack of ice cover. The Lake Michigan-Huron basin actually set a record of a different kind in January, when it dropped 11 centimetres, far more than the average decline of two cm for the first month of the year. In February, when the lake on average drops one cm, it fell four cm.

Liberal government will miss drinking water target by years, CBC News survey shows

Liberal government will miss drinking water target by years, CBC News survey shows

The Liberal government will miss a target it set during the 2015 federal election campaign to lift all long-term drinking water advisories in First Nations by March 2021 — in some cases by several years — according to a survey of communities by CBC News. More than a dozen First Nations said projects to end long-term drinking water advisories won't be completed by the promised deadline.

‘No child should have to experience not knowing what clean running water is,’ says Autumn Peltier at the United Nations

‘No child should have to experience not knowing what clean running water is,’ says Autumn Peltier at the United Nations

I would like to thank the Global Landscapes Forum and the United Nations General Assembly for having me here today to share my concerns and share why my people have a sacred connection to the water and the lands. I would like to start by sharing that the work I do is in honour of my late Great Auntie Biidaasige-ba. If it weren’t for her lifetime commitment and sacrifices to create the awareness and the sacredness of water, I would not be standing here today. She inspired me to do this work as she was an Elder when she began. I thought about who would keep doing her work one day; I just didn’t expect that day to come as soon as it did. She created the Mother Earth Water Walks. She walked around all the Great Lakes, more than once. She did this because the Elders began to see changes in the lands, medicines, animals and waters.

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