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.
Melfort council has passed a motion to allow the city to borrow $4 million for water line replacements this summer. This isn’t the first public conversation about the borrowing with it being a topic of discussion when council deliberated the 2022 budget in January. The city loses about 12 to 15 per cent of its water supply due to breaks annually. Adam Homes, Melfort’s city manager, called the $4 million loan a start to alleviating the issue.
