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 small test well drilled in 2021 has Wellington North’s water department talking about the potential for a new drinking water source following a recent report on test findings. Located on township land at the unopened roads of Wells Street and McCauley Road, less than a kilometre north of Domville Street, the well yielded a high flow rate of 27 litres of water per second under a six-day stress test.
The water supplied to 18 Garden Bay area homes is under a “do not use” warning from Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) as of Nov. 4. Dream Valley Estates residents were notified by VCH that slightly elevated arsenic levels were detected in Sept. 28 water supply samples. Health Canada’s maximum acceptable concentration (MAC) for arsenic in drinking water is 10 parts per billion (ppb). Two of three Dream Valley samples tested at 11.3 and 11.6 ppb. One of those samples tested raw water and one was on treated water.
Residents of a small B.C. community are facing an ongoing water issue that started in late December and could stretch into March. Located in the Southern Interior, the village of Hedley is under a do-not-consume water advisory because of higher-than-safe arsenic levels. The advisory came into effect on Christmas Day and, because of wrinkles caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, is expected to last another four weeks.
