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.
Climate geoscientist Joseph Shea didn't have to go far to find evidence of what he calls "exceptional'' hot and dry weather in British Columbia this year. He says he was still gathering raspberries in his garden in Prince George, B.C., last week as temperatures neared 20 C, at a time when the historical average maximum is about 9 C.
The ongoing drought in many parts of B.C. is causing some rivers in the province's northern Interior to reach their driest mid-October levels in years. In Prince George, the unusually low waters have locals worried. Harriet Schoeter moved to the northern B.C. city 60 years ago, and loves walking the shore where the Fraser and Nechako rivers meet. This week, the water was so low she could almost walk right across.
The B.C. government has ordered Coastal GasLink to stop work on a section of pipeline near Prince George after officials found sediment-laden water being "pumped into an area that ran into tributaries of the Anzac River." In an email to CBC News, B.C.'s Environmental Assessment Office said there were "negative impacts" to a fish-bearing stream, a matter it takes "very seriously."
W5 investigated aging asbestos pipes across Canada and the potential health hazards if it ends up in your tap water. We spent several months trying to get to the bottom of two things: Where are these pipes, and is there asbestos in Canada’s water? We reached out and asked over 100 towns, districts and municipalities what types of pipes were in use, and whether there were maps of these networks.
Prince George is the latest city to feel the lash of torrential downpours linked to ongoing unsettled weather across British Columbia. Environment Canada is reporting about six millimetres of rain fell at the Prince George airport Tuesday, but doesn't mention the localized, intense thunderstorm that deluged the city's downtown core, flooding several streets. RCMP said its frontline officers had to help after "several vehicles" got stranded in the water in the industrial area off Queensway and on Winnipeg Street. Four separate roads were closed as crews worked to clear the excess water.
Kym Gouchie lives just 20 kilometers away from downtown Prince George, northern B.C.'s largest city and one that has been rated as having one of the best water systems in the country — but because she is on reserve land, she has been unable to drink from her taps for more than a year. Gouchie lives with her mother on the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation reserve, which was established after its members were removed from the Lheidli T'enneh village near present-day downtown Prince George in 1913. In 2019, the First Nation announced the installation of water filtration systems, which have since failed.
WSP won for its work in developing an innovative solution for safe water in remote communities. Like many remote communities, the people of the Tl’azt’en Nation in northern B.C. had no access to clean drinking water. Because conventional water treatment technology was unfeasible, WSP Canada and the RES’EAU-WaterNET partnered to develop a treatment system for organic material. The project delivered a full-scale plant that allowed a 14-year boil water advisory to be lifted. The system uses natural biological processes, is low in consumables, reduces chemical requirements, produces little waste and is simple for operators to use.
