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

OKIB

Multi-million water system upgrade improves safety, quality for OKIB

Multi-million water system upgrade improves safety, quality for OKIB

The Okanagan Indian Band has completed a major upgrade to its water system. The Six Mile/Bradley Creek system has been improved by upgrading wells, expanding and updating the water treatment system, and doubling reservoir capacity. The system has also been connected to the band’s Irish Creek/Head of the Lake system, which received two new larger reservoirs and a control station. OKIB Public Works & Housing director Jolene Vincent says each reservoir has doubled its capacity, from 400 to 800 cubic square metres each. The community using the Six Mile system had been under a water advisory since May 2019 due to elevated manganese levels in its water. This meant it wasn't safe for pregnant women or children under two.

Efforts underway to retrieve cattle from Okanagan Lake after they plunged through ice and drowned

Efforts underway to retrieve cattle from Okanagan Lake after they plunged through ice and drowned

"We're working with the Ministry of Environment on what steps to take ... We need to make sure it's handled properly as it's a safety issue. And we don't want to have any impact on drinking water." The loss of that many cattle "is a huge loss for any rancher," the chief added, and the recovery has a limited window to happen before it could potentially impact water quality and also before the carcasses are no longer suitable to go to the rendering plant.

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