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.
Lacey Phillips, another Tamarack resident, said she got her water back Monday after losing it more than 48 hours earlier. She said the residents all pay lot fees which include water. Hers is around $350 each month. Phillips said it's not unusual to have a boil notice in effect for Tamarack, but she said it's also not unusual to have black water coming out of her taps — boil order or no boil order.
The majesty that is Niagara Falls has had its, well, less majestic moments over the past two centuries. In fact, twice the falls have dried up completely – once stopped by nature and the second time 120 years later, it was stopped by man. Way back on March 30, 1848, the falls went down to a trickle, leaving local American and Canadians citizens on both sides puzzled. Given the limited technology and means of communication at the time – Alexander Graham Bell didn’t invent the telephone until 1876 – no one knew why it simply stopped.
