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.
Some three billion years ago, Mars was believed to have been a water world just like earth. It possessed great oceans and was most likely on its way to forming life in one form or another. Water is made up of hydrogen, the most common element in the universe, and oxygen, the third most common element. Water is extremely important to the development and sustaining of life as we know it.
The Cariboo Regional District has issued a water quality advisory, to the Horse Lake water users as a result of levels of manganese (Mn) in its drinking water supply. The quality of the drinking water has not changed, but the move is due to changed Canadian guidelines for drinking water. Health Canada established a new maximum acceptable concentration for manganese in drinking water of 0.12 mg/L. Historical water test results show that the wells in Horse lake have produced between 0.14 to 0.29 mg/L of manganese. These manganese levels vary per well and what time of year the tests were taken.
The province's plan for large-scale expansion of the industry is fueling widespread criticism that includes concerns over selenium pollution. The data shows that same contaminant has been found for years at high levels downstream of three mines and never publicly reported. The findings raise questions about Alberta Environment, said a former senior official who has seen the data. "There were lots of [selenium] numbers and it was consistently above the water quality guidelines and in many cases way higher," said Bill Donahue, the department's one-time executive director of science. "Why did Alberta Environment sit on these data for easily the last 10 to 15 years?"
