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 Ontario government is investing up to $6.9 million in approximately 100 local conservation projects to restore and enhance wetlands across the province. This funding will help 14 conservation partners restore more than 2,400 acres of wetlands in Ontario, which combined is larger than Presqu’ile Provincial Park, near Brighton. The projects will improve water quality, help prevent flooding and build climate change resiliency.
An initiative aiming to advance water quality protection and healthy sustainable communities around Lake Huron has awarded funding to a handful of local projects. Lake Huron Forever, which was developed in 2019 by shoreline community foundations and conservation partners from the United States and Canada, has awarded $5,000 grants to four projects in Ontario with ties to the local area, including Bruce County and Manitoulin Island. Grants were also handed out to four projects in Michigan. Those receiving funding in Ontario are a schoolyard stormwater bioswale project at Peninsula Shores District School in Wiarton, a coastal stewardship and education program by the Goderich-based Lake Huron Coastal Centre, the cover crop initiative of the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority, and the Kagawong River Stream Restoration on Manitoulin Island.
