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.
Waves of torrential rainfall drenched California into the new year. Snowpacks in the Sierra Nevada Mountains have swelled to more than 200% their normal size, and snowfall across the rest of the Colorado River Basin is trending above average, too. While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, experts warn against claiming victory. About 60% of the region remains in some form of drought, continuing a decades-long spiral into water scarcity.
Low water levels on the Mississippi River in the United States could have an impact on corn and other grain prices, but are unlikely to affect fertilizer deliveries into Canada, say officials. The Mississippi River is considered low if the stage falls below five feet in Memphis, Tennessee. On Oct. 20 it hit a record low of -10.74 feet. The stage bounced back to -0.79 feet on Nov. 18, due to rains in Kentucky and Tennessee that made their way into the river basin.
Although the lower river levels of the Mississippi River are perhaps better documented as affecting the movement of product into and through the US, Canada’s St. Lawrence River is also experiencing its shortcomings. The St. Lawrence River route with ports on both the US and Canadian sides moves a lot of agricultural products—about 40 percent of the Seaway’s trade. Note that the St. Lawrence route also moves cargo down via the Mississippi into the US, and vice versa.
The proposed flow of 250,000 gallons/second represents a lot of water. Converting it into a more normal engineering unit, this would represent about 32,000 cubic feet/second (CFS). That happens to be about the same rate of flow as passes through the generating turbines at Hoover Dam at full capacity. In the original letter, this flow was correctly calculated as the amount of flow necessary to fill Lake Powell in one year. Even at today’s record low level, Lake Powell is not empty. Lesser flows could reduce the costs and difficulty of the project while still providing significant benefits.
A heavy rainstorm is expected to hit the Fraser Valley, bringing 50 to 70 millimetres of rain, according to a warning from Environment Canada. Meteorologists call this type of rain pattern an “atmospheric river.” It’s caused by narrow regions in the atmosphere transporting water vapor outside the tropics. Once the vapor hits land, it releases in the form of rain or snow.
Minnesota regulators say there have been more releases of drilling fluid along the Line 3 oil pipeline construction route than previously reported. According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, there were 28 releases at 12 river crossing locations from June 8 to Aug. 5. In one instance, on July 6, about 80 gallons of fluid entered the Willow River in Aitkin County.
