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.
Following some drier weather recently, City of Nanaimo officials are advising residents to be cautious with water consumption as spring progresses. Mike Squire, city water resources manager, said the Jump Creek reservoir is 91 per cent full currently, which is above average and trending upward. The snowpack is at about 2.4 metres, which is slightly below the median historical average, he said, and while there was a lot of snow in December, precipitation has been down in March.
