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 Canadian Coast Guard has issued its first fine against the owner of a derelict and abandoned vessel under a federal law that took effect four years ago. A statement from the coast guard says the agency levied a fine of $15,000 against the owner of a boat that was grounded and abandoned in Cadboro Bay, near Victoria.
The Tsawout First Nation, located 20 kilometres north of Victoria, B.C., has declared an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) for 155 kilometres of ocean in its traditional waters. The area will be called QEN'T Marine Protected Area. QEN'T — pronounced "qwant" — means "to be looking after," "caring for," or "protecting something or someone" in SENĆOŦEN.
A new environmental scorecard says Canada's biggest cities have lower scores than most small and medium-sized municipalities, but a closer look at the data reveals some surprises. The study, published Tuesday in the journal Environment International, rates 30 of the country's largest cities and towns on nine indicators related to health, including air quality, heat and cold waves, ultraviolet radiation, and access to green spaces. The results are compiled in the new Canadian Environmental Quality Index, produced by Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Mother Nature is about to throw another wet and windy punch our way this weekend, with “continuous and significant rainfall” and strong winds forecast from Victoria to Port Hardy starting Saturday morning or afternoon, depending on where you live. Rainfall, which is expected to last until Monday in some areas, will be heavier than the season’s initial atmospheric river on Thursday that knocked out power to more than 18,000 homes and caused dangerous driving conditions.
In a typical year, British Columbia would be well into its rainy season by mid-October. Instead, cities across the province have seen a fraction of the rain they normally would by this time of year, and unseasonably warm temperatures have set records in the province on 10 of 13 days so far this month. According to The Canadian Press, the City of Vancouver sees an average of 165 millimetres of rain between July and Oct. 14. This year, the city has received just 16 millimetres – less than 10 per cent of the average.
Crews are working to drain fuel from a sunken fish boat in U.S. waters just east of Vancouver Island before it fouls a key feeding ground for endangered southern resident killer whales. An update from the U.S. Coast Guard says the 15-metre Aleutian Isle has shifted since it went down Saturday off Washington state, near San Juan Island, roughly 25 kilometres east of Victoria.
A First Nation is working alongside a B.C. tech company to learn more about how climate change is affecting the waters it harvests food from. In an effort to preserve and even build up capacity for seafood harvesting, the T'Sou-ke First Nation on southern Vancouver Island turned to Victoria-based MarineLabs, which collects real-time data about the ocean, about 18 months ago to better understand what's going on in the Sooke Basin and other areas it uses.
From the comfort of cruise ships, a typical trip to Alaska offers magnificent views of glaciers and untamed national parks, and visits to quaint seaside towns. For years, these draws have made cruises to Alaska the most booked US holiday. But the journey to those pristine areas, which involves sailing along Canada’s west coast for two or three days, is leaving behind a trail of toxic waste, including within marine protected areas (MPAs), according to new research.
Jane Goodall says she's sharing a message of hope and a cry to action as she returns to the stage for live events. The scientist, who's best known for her work with wild chimpanzees in Africa, was in Calgary on Wednesday and was scheduled to give another talk in Victoria on Friday night. "It's my first trip to Canada in three years, because of the pandemic, and it's my third trip anywhere," Goodall said in an interview Wednesday before her Calgary event. Like many, she spent the past two-and-a-half years of the pandemic working from home and delivering her message online. "It was a grind," she said, "because we created virtual Jane and virtual Jane could do Zooms and Zoom interviews and attend conferences every day."
A new 30-year plan for the Greater Victoria water supply proposes nearly $2 billion in infrastructure spending, including $1 billion for the region's first-ever water filtration plant. The Capital Regional District's (CRD) water experts say a growing population and the impacts of climate change mean they need to access more water, and do more to clean it, before sending it into households. Ted Robbins, the head of integrated water services for the regional district, said while the expense may seem large, these projects are "absolutely necessary for this region, in terms of providing a safe and reliable water supply."
“Forest practices can affect water quality, quantity and timing of water flows, which may have negative impacts to drinking water, fish habitat, infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, and private property” said Kevin Kriese, chair of the Forest Practices Board, in a statement. “Looking ahead, climate change will have significant effects on our watersheds and can compound the effects of human activities, including forestry. However, there are steps that can be taken to avoid or reduce these impacts.”
The third in a series of storms that have increased in intensity is bearing down on B.C., causing major concerns for communities dealing with the consequences of previous storms over the past two weeks. CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe says 10 to 15 millimetres could fall within a mere three hours on parts of the South Coast on Tuesday, and freezing levels will rise rapidly in altitude — which means more snowmelt.
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.
Victoria and surrounding municipalities are no longer dumping untreated sewage into the ocean — much to the delight of our neighbours south of the border. Washington state Governor Jay Inslee, who has a house on Bainbridge Island, is among those welcoming news that, after four years of construction, the Capital Regional District’s $775-million Wastewater Treatment Project has begun treating sewage at the McLoughlin Point plant.
Since Salt Spring Island's only public laundry facility closed in 2016, resident Cherie Geavreau has wanted to open a new one, but there's a big obstacle in the way. The local authority that regulates and distributes the island's water has placed a moratorium on water usage, and hasn't yet decided whether to allow the larger water pipe that Geavreau needs to run the laundromat efficiently.
