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 Regional District of Central Kootenay is spearheading a drive to give more power to local water users to protect their most precious natural resource. The regional government’s Water Governance Initiative (WGI) has just completed the second phase of a project to enable more local input and decision-making power in the management of water systems.