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.
The provincial and federal governments are teaming up to determine the feasibility of a non-potable water source in a Portage la Prairie-area industrial park. On Wednesday, the governments announced they are committing $55,000 to study the possibility of a non-potable water source for tenants of an industrial park in the RM of Portage la Prairie. The water source would be used for non-food processing purposes at the Poplar Bluff Industrial Park.
Long Plain First Nation had to call on help from its neighbours over the weekend after its water supply ran dry on Friday. Now as tanker trucks haul water from nearby Portage la Prairie to replenish the First Nation's reservoir, leaders in the First Nation are searching for a long-term solution. "I think people are quite concerned by it," Chief Dennis Meeches said about the persistently hot and dry conditions, which drained aquifers that feed the community's reservoir.
