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.
Thirty years ago, a public backlash over the issuance of a half-dozen water-shipping permits spurred B.C. to put a moratorium on bulk water exports, a measure later backed up with legislation. Santa Barbara-based Sun Belt Water, which had a deal with Snowcap Waters of Fanny Bay to ship supertankers of water to California, announced it would challenge that decision under NAFTA, but then the story petered out.
B.C. Hydro is preparing for lower water levels in some Vancouver Island reservoirs and watersheds in the coming months, after a particularly dry winter.
Both the Puntledge and Campbell rivers are running low and that impacts everything from salmon runs to boating tourists, as well as electric utility operations.
