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.
“This is a critical time for conservation work locally, and also globally. Kootenay Connect is moving our region toward doing our part to protect 30 per cent of Canada’s land and water by 2030, the recently agreed upon global conservation goal to minimize our planet’s ongoing biodiversity loss,” said Dr. Michael Proctor, Kootenay Connect Science Advisor. “We look forward to a network of healthy interconnected ecosystems that support a rich array of wildlife and important ecosystem services.”
