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.
U.S. Indigenous leaders from the Pacific Northwest say they won’t give up trying to convince Canada’s federal government to agree to a bilateral investigation of toxic mining runoff from the B.C. Interior. Representatives from several U.S. tribes were in D.C. Tuesday and Wednesday to meet with officials from the White House, the State Department and the Department of the Interior, as well as with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
The Atlantic First Nations Water Authority has signed a transfer agreement with Indigenous Services Canada to take over water and wastewater management in 17 First Nations in the region. The communities will still need a ratifying vote to officially come aboard but Chief Ross Perley of Neqotkuk, a Wolastoqey community 120 kilometres northwest of Fredericton, said the agreement signed Nov. 7 in Halifax represents much-needed empowerment for First Nations.
Israel and Jordan on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to move ahead with a water-for-energy deal after an initial examination of the project found it to be feasible. The idea, first announced a year ago, is for Jordan to build 600 megawatts of solar power capacity that would be exported to Israel. In return, Israel would provide water-scarce Jordan with 200 million cubic metres (mcm) of desalinated water.
In a typical geothermal project, water pumped up for conversion into a heat or energy source is then pumped back down for re-heating. Company president Alison Thompson said the joint development agreement with Shell will “de-risk” the project to determine the potential for more investment. “The drilling to be done … with Shell’s funding assistance is to intersect the M’Deek Reservoir with production sized wells. If the well tests look good, the wells could be used to produce geothermal energy,” she said. “The wells drilled previously were not intended to be used for production.”
Forward Water Technologies (TSX-V:FWTC) Inc has announced a strategic partnership for the North American market with water technology company Aquaporin. Under the agreement, Forward Water will sell Aquaporin's unique biomimetic forward osmosis membranes for applications associated with lithium mining and extraction and water management within the oil and gas industry.
