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.
In response to increasing coastal flooding risks, the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC), a branch of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), recently launched a five-year initiative entitled the Predicting and Alerting for Coastal Flooding (PACF) project. To help advance this work, ECCC is seeking Geographic Information System (GIS) data from municipalities and regional districts that pertains to near-ocean infrastructure.
Vancouver's waterfront has taken a beating in recent months. Storms have left part of the seawall badly damaged and there's a barge stuck on a beach in English Bay. As climate change and rising sea levels continue to cause problems for coastal communities and their infrastructure, a new initiative from the City of Vancouver is aiming to get ahead of the issue.
