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 boil-water notice has been issued for the entire city of Prince Rupert, B.C., after its aging water system suffered multiple breaks on Tuesday night. Mayor Herb Pond described the situation in the city of 12,000 people as "armageddon-like," with water gushing out of the ground, washing out streets and flooding people's basements.
Some 180,000 residents in Jackson, Mississippi have "indefinitely" lost access to reliable running water after excessive rainfall and flooding. Rising floodwaters over the weekend breached the city's main water treatment facility, bringing it to the brink of collapse. A state of emergency has been declared, and schools, restaurants and businesses have temporarily closed. The city had already been under a boil-water notice for a month. Problems at the OB Curtis Water Plant began after heavy rains caused the Pearl River to crest and spill over onto city streets over the weekend. City hall confirmed on Monday that river water had entered the facility, which treats more than 50 million US gallons (190 million litres) per day.
Residents of a small community on the shore of Shuswap Lake have been advised to boil their water before use. The Columbia-Shuswap Regional District issued the boil-water notice for users of the Sorrento Water System on Friday evening, citing elevated turbidity in the water. The water system serves properties in the unincorporated community of Sorrento, about 25 kilometres west of Salmon Arm and 75 kilometres east of Kamloops along the Trans-Canada Highway.
