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.
With the reservoir low, residents in Alma, N.B., are being asked to conserve water. This comes just days after the Municipality of Fundy Albert advised residents to boil their water. Fundy Albert Mayor Robert Rochon said the issue isn't a lack of water as much as an aging system that can only fill the reservoir so fast. He said the reservoir is fed by a well that can pump 50 gallons of water per minute, but the demand on the system exceeds that.
The City of Hamilton is examining the possibility of new relief or rebate programs to help low-income residents amidst a surge in the number of unpaid water bills. Senior policy advisor John Savoie says such arrears have soared in Hamilton in recent years, reaching 20,000 accounts last year with total unpaid amounts hitting $4.4 million. “Unpaid after 60 days, it gets transferred to the property’s tax roll,” said Savoie. “We have seen over the last five years or so, the number and the value of those tax roll transfers have more than doubled.” Savoie added that 90 per cent of last year’s unpaid water bills were residential.
