Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

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.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

drainage

Advocates call on Sask. government to create wetland policy before agricultural water policy

Advocates call on Sask. government to create wetland policy before agricultural water policy

The Saskatchewan Alliance for Water Sustainability (SAWS) and other water advocacy groups are calling on the province to create a wetland policy. About 10,000 acres of wetlands are lost on average each year in Saskatchewan, according to Ducks Unlimited. It is the only province without a comprehensive policy to manage and preserve wetlands. Advocates said they are concerned that the province's new upcoming Agricultural Water Stewardship Policy will maintain existing drainage and create new wetland drainage projects. The policy aims to help farmers deal with occasional overland flooding.

Water matters here

Water matters here

I discovered one obvious reality when I moved to Manitoba in 2001: water is a big, big issue here. And it’s often news. Farm news. Agriculture news. Winnipeg news. Indigenous news. Environmental news. Sometimes it even gets to be national news. Whether it’s floods, droughts, water pollution, drainage, wetlands, sewage plant costs or Canada-U.S. river crossings, water issues are often the most important in the province.

When the forces of nature are the answer to nature’s force

When the forces of nature are the answer to nature’s force

The costs and damages of flooding are overwhelming communities along coasts, near rivers and on big lakes. Across the country, urban floods are happening at a rate and extent that is pushing disaster resilience to the forefront of public safety discussions. We all pay the price of more frequent flooding, even if the danger and damage are happening in someone else’s town. In fact, the Insurance Institute of Canada reports that the multi-billion-dollar cost of insurance claims is on track to more than double over the course of a decade.

New research finds evidence of climate-driven changes to northern lakes

New research finds evidence of climate-driven changes to northern lakes

Across the Old Crow Flats in the northern Yukon, lakes are telling a story of climate-driven change. The traditional territory of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation (VGFN), the Old Crow Flats is recognized as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance thanks to its more than 8,000 thermokarst lakes (up to 15 square kilometres) and ponds. Thermokarst lakes are formed by thawed permafrost and can be prone to drainage if they expand into low-lying areas. Kevin Turner, an Associate Professor in Brock’s Department of Geography and Tourism Studies and Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Arctic Studies at the University of Washington, has studied the area since 2007, and he says that warmer temperatures, longer summers and more rain are “priming this important landscape for continued climate-driven landscape change.”

Government of Canada supports international water conference in Saskatoon

Government of Canada supports international water conference in Saskatoon

Experts from around the world are in Saskatoon to discuss managing water for sustainable agriculture in the face of climate change. The 2018 annual conference of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage is being supported by the Government of Canada through a $15,000 investment from Western Economic Diversification Canada's Western Diversification Program.

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