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.
A Salmon Arm councillor would like to see a more timely, data-driven response to potential algal blooms in Shuswap Lake. At the July 11 council meeting, Coun. Debbie Cannon raised concerns around the algal bloom advisory issued for parts of Shuswap Lake by Interior Health (IH) on June 28 – and subsequently shared through the media. She was concerned the advisory went out prior to the Canada Day long weekend without testing or verification.
