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.
Strong winds could cause waves and high water levels along the southern basins of Lake Manitoba and areas around Lake Winnipeg beginning on Wednesday. Affected areas include the western shoreline near Gimli, and Victoria Beach on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. Northwest winds up to 55 km/h will develop Wednesday afternoon and last until early morning on Thursday, and could raise water levels by more than five feet, Manitoba's Hydrologic Forecast Centre advised.
The province is advising people and animals to steer clear of Spruce Sands beach after a sewage spill occurred nearby, causing elevated E. coli levels in the water — a stinky problem for beachgoers. Manitoba Health says the spill occurred in the rural municipality of Gimli on July 15, when a sewer line damaged during routine ditch maintenance began affecting local water quality. The E. coli levels are currently at 16,756 E. coli per 100/ml — more than 83 times the recreational water quality objective of 200 E.coli per 100/ml, according to a sample collected in the section of Lake Winnipeg on Tuesday.
People living in and around Gimli, Man. are cleaning up after high lake levels and heavy winds caused flooding along the western shores of Lake Winnipeg. The situation sent waves crashing onto lakefront properties and swamped some popular destinations over the weekend, prompting calls for a better warning system to respond to similar situations in the future.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is working to protect two ecosystems along Lake Winnipeg. The NCC said it is hoping to protect Breda Bay and Siglavik, calling the two ecosystems, "significant shoreline properties." The two areas near Gimli take up 45 hectares and the NCC said conserving them would impact the current and future health of the lake. "They represent one of the last natural areas along the southwest shore of Lake Winnipeg and we are working with local private land owners to conserve them for nature and people forever," said Cary Hamel, director of conservation for NCC’s Manitoba region.
Help could be on the way to update the North End Sewage Treatment Plant and fight pollution in Lake Winnipeg. The Lake Winnipeg Foundation, an environmental non-governmental organization, said the city is the single largest contributor of phosphorus in the lake, at around five per cent. Winnipeg South MP Terry Duguid, parliamentary secretary to the minister of environment and climate change, told 680 CJOB the federal government is willing to do its part to tackle the problem, but the North End plant only serves as a starting point.
