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.
“Watering is an ongoing activity,” said Chris Reid, executive gardener with Community Garden Builders. “Some gardeners post signs that say ‘please water me’ to invite neighbours to help.” With much of B.C. in the grip of drought, Metro Vancouver reservoirs, which supply the region’s tap water, were at their lowest level for September in a decade. Rain at the end of the month and into October has since increased levels to about the same as 2021.
Wild and wacky weather events like atmospheric rivers, derechos and bomb cyclones may seem new because of recent media coverage, but they’ve been known and named phenomena for quite some time in the history of meteorology and atmospheric science, speakers said Tuesday at the CatIQ Connect conference. What’s new is that they appear to be getting worse and more frequent as the climate changes. That means increasingly higher insured damage payouts for Canada’s P&C insurance industry.
Climate change will profoundly affect our water supply as summers grow hotter and winters shorter. While precipitation is predicted to increase overall, so will the duration and severity of droughts. The good news is that over the last century our ability to deal with drought conditions has improved. Crop types, tillage, even the timing of fertilizers can help plants get the moisture they need.
