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.
Communities along the Red River in Manitoba are bracing for another major flood this spring, even as some still have not finished repairing damage from last year's high water event. The Rural Municipality of Montcalm, which surrounds southern Manitoba communities like Letellier and St. Jean Baptiste, still has about $10 million to $15 million worth of repairs left to make, said Reeve Paul Gilmore.
Manitoba's flood forecasters are keeping an eye on a spring storm that the province says could dump 30 to 80 centimetres of snow on southern Manitoba in the next week. In a Saturday flood bulletin, the province said the system may result in a mix of snow and rain between Tuesday and Friday. Temperatures are forecast to drop to below freezing by Wednesday and remain below freezing until April 19 in most locations, the province said. Runoff from the forecast precipitation is not expected to start before April 20, according to the bulletin.
