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.
Here are five things we suggest residents living in flood zones should keep in mind while we all wait and see what happens next on the Ottawa River, 1. If flood waters have reached the level of your well head, or covered it, do not drink water from that well until the well water has been tested and you can’t test the water until the river has receded a significant amount more. 2. Ottawa Public Health has outlined clear steps that need to be taken before well water is safe again for drinking.
If you bring home a report card with grades like D, C-, B, and in some spots D and F you know you would have some explaining to do. The Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) recently released the 2023 Watershed Report Card, a checkup on the health of the Niagara Peninsula watershed, focusing on surface and groundwater quality, forest conditions, and watershed features.
Two conservation authorities in eastern Ontario have issued flood warnings for several rivers and watershed lakes in their areas, with flooding imminent or already occurring in some locations. The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) issued its warning Saturday for areas around Bob's Lake in South Frontenac, Christie Lake in Tay Valley and the Tay River in Perth, Ont.
A week after he is sworn in, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe will meet with Premier Doug Ford and Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark Tuesday at Queen's Park. They will have no shortage of issues to discuss. In a memo to council members sent Thursday afternoon, the mayor said he plans to talk about "ongoing pandemic-related pressures — including reduced transit ridership, the Social Services Relief Fund, and the need for recovery assistance resulting from the May 2022 derecho [storm]."
Environmental advocates are raising the alarm that Ontario's latest housing legislation could prevent conservation authorities from helping municipalities review construction projects and see some wetlands re-mapped for development. The Ford government has also asked the province's three dozen conservation authorities to look at the swaths of land they own to see what could be turned over for housing.
On October 25, 2022, the Government of Ontario introduced Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 This bill touches on many areas of legislation and policy including: a commitment to offset development pressures on wetlands by requiring a net positive impact, a review of the Ontario Wetland Evaluation System (OWES) to find opportunities to remove duplicates and streamline evaluation processes, and changes to the Conservation Authority Act, which would affect how Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities regulate development activities within municipalities, improving consistency in policies and processes which reduce the impacts of flooding and natural hazards
Parks Canada raised the water levels on the Tay River and Christie Lake in part to maintain water levels on the Rideau Canal. “Parks Canada did perform operational work to increase the outflow from Bobs Lake dam,” wrote Aarin Crawford, a public relations and communications officer with Parks Canada’s Rideau Canal Ontario Waterways section in Smiths Falls, in an email exchange with The Perth Courier five days following the initial request. “The outflow increases were conducted to compensate for evaporation demands in the navigation section (of the) Rideau Canal.”
Ontario is investing $30 million over five years to restore 60 wetlands in the province, in partnership with Ducks Unlimited (DU) Canada. Environment Minister Jeff Yurek made the announcement in St. Thomas, Ont. on Wednesday morning, telling those in attendance the new projects will help improve water quality, preserve habitat and help with impact of climate change.
