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.
Councillors want the City of Ottawa to renegotiate its contract with a company offering insurance-like plans for damaged service lines as they demand an end to city-branded mail-outs that have infuriated residents. If that isn't possible, they want the city to break its agreement with Service Line Warranties of Canada (SLWC) altogether.
The City of Fredericton is looking to raise water and sewer rates for residents next year following this year's freeze in rates. The increase, if ultimately approved by councillors, would see the monthly bill for the average Fredericton household go from $73.47 to $78.17 per month, said Alicia Keating, the city's treasurer. "Not everyone is going to see the same rate change based on your bill — what you consume and what you don't — but when we look at the total average customer base of what we have, they'll see an average increase of four and a half dollars to their monthly sewer rate," said Keating, speaking during a council-in-committee open budget meeting on Tuesday.
Regina's executive committee has voted to receive updates on the city's efforts to remove lead water connections every two years rather than annually. The decision was a compromise between some councillors that wanted to continue receiving yearly updates and others who say receiving the reports on annual basis is an inefficient use of council's time.
About 77 millimetres of rain fell on Ottawa in a matter of hours, according to Environment Canada. That's more than any other Aug. 10 on record, but surrounding regions saw even more, receiving between 80 and 110 millimetres. At the storm's peak, Hydro Ottawa reported 24,000 customers without power. Mycah Katz was practicing a drag performance in the basement lounge of his condo building when the power cut out.
The effort to replace the nearly century-old Hensall water tower is moving ahead, though the project is coming with a higher price tag than originally anticipated. Councillors with the Municipality of Bluewater in Huron County this week awarded the project contract to Landmark Municipal Services and increased the budget to more than $6.4 million – roughly $1 million more than initially expected to replace the 88-year-old tower.
Niagara Region may have to revisit its water and wastewater master plan if changes by the province, in the form of Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, leave the municipality short of revenue for new growth-related projects. That’s what a recent report to its public works committee said as councillors examined the nuts of bolts of a planned update to the 2016 master plan last week.
One of the first actions of our 2022-2026 city council was to toast Sault Ste. Marie's bid to become the home of the new Canada Water Agency. Councillors gave unanimous support Monday night to a resolution from Ward 5 Coun. Corey Gardi and Ward 2's Luke Dufour, confirming that the Sault is still the "superior" choice for the new agency, intended to work with provinces, territories, Indigenous communities, local authorities, scientists, and others to keep Canada's fresh water safe, clean, and well-managed. "We're in the process of arranging for a couple of meetings with members of the federal government," Gardi said. "The task force has really stepped up its work over the course of the last couple of weeks." "It seems that the decision is imminent," Gardi said.
Whether Calgary does or doesn’t have fluoride in its water appears to be a fluid situation. Last year, council voted in favour of adding fluoride after a plebiscite question in the municipal election. However, if you think you’ve been drinking it over the last 12 months, you’re mistaken. At the time of the vote, city officials told councillors it would take between 18 and 24 months to complete the work to add the mineral back into Calgarians water. But that timeline may now be extended.
Fredericton councillors have agreed in principle to hold off on a rate increase to residents' water bills next year, despite concerns that doing so will put the city behind on needed infrastructure upgrades. City treasurer Alicia Keating, who laid out the proposed 2023 water and sewer budget during a meeting Tuesday night, recommended the move. The city has in recent years been hiking water rates annually by about five per cent to help replace underground pipes and other aging infrastructure.
The City of Kamloops is taking additional steps to protect residential drinking water. Council on Tuesday (Sept. 20) authorized a new cross connection control program, enforcement measures and spending of about $100,000 on a full-time staff member. Bylaws were read for the first three times and will return to council for adoption at a later date. Mayor Ken Christian and councillors Dale Bass, Dieter Dudy, Sadie Hunter, Bill Sarai, Kathy Sinclair, Arjun Singh and Denis Walsh voted in favour.
Water treatment, pipes, and school road safety will all be up on the docket for councillors this week. The council will discuss the alternative approval process for the finances of a waste water facility upgrade, and a school road safety project. They will also be discussing the roll-out of a 10-year financial plan for upgrading downtown Revelstoke’s water pipes. The wastewater treatment plant upgrade and school road safety project are both on hold because the council cannot adopt a new bylaw until residents of voting age give their approval. To get the approval, the council is using an alternative approval process (AAP).
After a late May heat wave when only 60 per cent of Toronto's public water fountains were operational, Mayor John Tory says he plans to introduce a council motion next week to see park amenities up and running sooner after winter. Tory said in a news release his motion will make sure "existing seasonal facilities are accessible as soon as possible to park users following the winter." But why aren't all these amenities operational now?
The City of Ottawa is endorsing a sewer line insurance program, run by a private corporation, that raised alarms and caused confusion among residents and councillors last year. In a memo to the mayor and council on Wednesday, a director with Ottawa's Infrastructure & Water Services Department said his staff found there's enough interest in the program run by Service Line Warranties of Canada (SLWC) that it would extend it for another five years.
Some municipal staff and politicians in the Charlottetown area went back to school last week — to 'Water's Cool' Water School. The water conservation program for Grade 5 students was originally created by staff with the Town of Stratford in 2011. The program expanded to include students in Charlottetown in 2019, and to date, more than 3,000 students have attended.
The City of Kawartha Lakes is looking for some clarity on the village of Woodville’s future capacity for expansion. At a Committee of the Whole meeting, on Tuesday, January 11th, councillors voted to have city staff create a report for council, regarding “an update on water service capacity of the existing system in the Village of Woodville.” The motion, brought forward as a memorandum from Ward 4 Councillor Andrew Veale, also stated, the report should include information on “existing capacity availability for future development, and the feasibility of service expansion, including existing test well capabilities and use.”
Nine city councillors and Regina's mayor are proposing fluoride be added to the city's drinking water. Councillors Cheryl Stadnichuk, Bob Hawkins, Andrew Stevens, Lori Bresciani, John Findura, Dan LeBlanc, Terina Shaw, Shanon Zachidniak and Jason Mancinelli, along with Mayor Sandra Masters, all signed the motion to introduce fluoride. The motion said there's strong scientific evidence to show the benefits of water fluoridation, and that cavity reduction is particularly important if the young are to avoid traumatic dental work and the elderly are to avoid dental appliances that are costly and difficult to manage.
Regina city council is once again set to discuss adding fluoride to the city's drinking water. It has been an ongoing topic in the city and was last formally discussed in 2016. On Wednesday, Councillors Bob Hawkins, Cheryl Stadnichuk, Andrew Stevens, Lori Bresciani, John Findura, Dan LeBlanc, Terina Shaw, Shannon Zachidniak, Jason Mancinelli and Mayor Sandra Masters are going to bring forward a notice of motion about adding fluoride to the water. This gives the city notice that this will be discussed and debated at the next city council meeting on August 11.
City of Powell River Council passed a bylaw that prohibits bottling of most water within city limits. At the March 4 city council meeting, council approved an amendment to the city’s zoning bylaw, which will prohibit the bottling of water or other beverages where the source of the water is other than the municipal water supply supplied directly to the property on which the bottling is taking place. This would allow continued local bottling of water for large jugs commonly used in water coolers, which is bottled by several local businesses.
About 350 homeowners in the city could be facing a big bill from the city if they are forced to remove lead pipes on their property. The affected homes historically decided against removing lead pipes on their portion of the property, while the city was replacing its water connections. The decision could cost homeowners between $7,500 and $9,000, with the option of paying the money back through property tax.
Calgary will hold yet another plebiscite on whether to restore fluoride to the city's drinking water this fall. Council voted 10-4 in favour of allowing the electors to decide the issue on Monday. It will be put to the public during the 2021 municipal election in October. Council chose to stop adding fluoride to its water supply in 2011, against the opinion of Calgarians who had voted in favour of fluoridation in 1998 and 1989 plebiscites. The city has held plebiscites on the issue dating back to the 1950s.
