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 Stz’uminus First Nation reservoir has lost 500,000 litres of water after a damaged fire hydrant was discovered in the Shell Beach area of Stz’uminus. Due to the water loss, Stz’uminus does not have enough water in the reservoir to safely fight a fire if one broke out. Local fire departments are on standby with pumper trucks in the event of a fire. In a press release, Stz’uminus said that 33 truckloads of water will be brought in to help refill the reservoir at ‘significant cost’.
