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 Resort Village of Cochin is receiving funding for the rehabilitation of their breakwater, a structure that protects against erosion, maintains fish spawning area, and allows for free movement of water between lake systems. It also provides a scenic community-centred area for public gathering and fishing. Once completed, these improvements will rehabilitate the existing breakwater.
In stormy weather, Jerome Kerivan finds himself wondering how much more pressure his eight-year-old home can take. “The last two to four years, there’s a lot more spray coming in over the breakwater that strikes the house,” he said of his sea-facing home near the Placentia lift bridge. “I get concerned. … What’s going to happen? The biggest concerns I have are the shingles and everything on the house.” The storms are more frequent and the winds are a lot stronger, said Kerivan, a retired fisherman. Like many other residents, Kerivan credits a seawall built decades ago following severe flooding in the 1980s with keeping Placentia — much of which is below sea level — protected from potentially devastating flooding.
