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.
With multiple bodies of water under water shortage advisories after a dry start to the month, some fish in Edmonton could be facing a tough winter. Clearwater River, Sturgeon River and the Whitemud and Blackmud creeks currently have water shortage advisories. These are imposed when stream flows or lake or reservoir levels are lower than normal.
If you drive the Icefields Parkway through the Canadian Rockies, you'll pass multiple turquoise-coloured lakes that are popular with tourists for taking photos. The lakes get their iconic colour from rock flour, which is similar in appearance to baker's flour used for making bread. Rock flour is made from glaciers grinding rocks into powder, which can take thousands of years.
Lake Pisiquid near Windsor, N.S., which refilled with water following a provincial emergency order last month, won't be drained again anytime soon, according to Premier Tim Houston. "The lake will remain full because that's in the interest of public safety and that's just the way it is," Houston told reporters following a cabinet meeting in Halifax on Thursday. "We will not allow that lake to drain."
Lorne Fitch, a longtime fisheries biologist and former adjunct professor at the University of Calgary, is often checking out the headwaters of the Oldman River. "It's been an interesting view of a year that doesn't seem to follow anything that resembles a normal pattern," Fitch said. In Alberta, June typically brings high levels of rain, which hasn't been the case this year. Snowpacks also disappeared, on average, about a month earlier than they would have in a normal year, according to Paul Christensen, a senior fisheries biologist with Alberta Environment and Protected Areas.
After a wildfire tore through the forest around Kakisa, N.W.T., in 2014, Lloyd Chicot began noticing changes in the lake: the pickerel grew fatter, and the pelicans moved in. Chicot, the chief of Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation, attributes the change partly to climate change and partly to runoff from the fire, which brought nutrients and debris into the lake. "Right after the fire, there was a lot of burnt driftwood and that kind of stuff," he recalled.
Pulling a large truck tire from the water, volunteer Derek Evans says he is not sure how long it has been at the bottom of Lake Ontario. It’s filled with zebra mussels and mud, but the rubber has the potential to be a serious issue. "This is at least 50 pounds," Evans says. "It definitely would be a lot of damage to the fish and the wildlife in the water." Getting this tire, and other garbage, is part of a massive project called, 'Kingston Waters Clean Up.' More than 70 divers, kayakers and shorelines volunteers are bagging up garbage to keep it out of the water and drawing awareness to the issue, explains organizer Guillaume Courcy.
Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-06), co-chair of the Great Lakes Task Force, sent a bipartisan letter with several colleagues to President Biden this week, urging the president to highlight the importance of Canadian investment in our shared Great Lakes resources during his upcoming visit to the country later this month. “The Great Lakes contain one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water, providing drinking water for more than 30 million Americans and Canadians, supporting a $6 trillion regional economy, and providing habitat for a host of fish and wildlife,” the lawmakers wrote. “Through partnerships between the United States and Canada, sustained investments are critical to clean up toxic Areas of Concern, address the threat of invasive species, restore habitats, reduce harmful algal blooms, and mitigate other threats to the Great Lakes.
Those taking in the views at a popular lake near Banff, Alta., will likely see a large amount of dead fish from the shore, according to Parks Canada. Fish in the second lake at Vermilion Lakes, directly west of Banff, recently died from winterkill said Mark Taylor, aquatic ecologist team lead in Banff National Park. Winterkill naturally happens when the fish don't get enough oxygen.
A construction contractor has been fined $2.8 million for releasing contaminated water into salmon-bearing creeks in Coquitlam and Surrey in 2017. Michels Canada Co., a construction contractor based out of Nisku, Alta., was ordered to pay the sum on Dec. 6, after pleading guilty to two charges under the Fisheries Act. “These creeks are inhabited by salmonids year-round, and the presence of juvenile salmonids in these creeks during the summertime low flow period and hot weather emphasizes the importance of this habitat,” stated Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) on Dec. 8.
Throughout the warmer months, Alberta's irrigation networks play a crucial role in the province. They transfer water from rivers and reservoirs, delivering it to rural communities, to farmers and to recreational areas, supporting some wildlife along the way. But along with the water comes the fish. And in the fall, when the irrigation networks shut down, thousands of them become stranded. "It's absolutely a recurring problem," said Lesley Peterson, a Calgary biologist with Trout Unlimited Canada.
The spread of dust caused by Baffinland Iron Mines Corp.’s Mary River mine is larger than predicted and is impacting drinking water, wildlife and sea ice in the surrounding area, says a Qikiqtani Inuit Association manager. Regulatory affairs manager Chris Spencer presented three years’ worth of reports to the association’s board members for the first time Thursday. The reports summarize an investigation, launched in 2020, into how dust spread from the mine is affecting the environment and Inuit culture. QIA found foxes near the mine that were “deeply discoloured red” and acting strangely; that dust spread was worse than what Baffinland had predicted it would be each year; and that water in several locations had surpassed national drinking water safety guidelines for aluminium content.
After opponents stopped the project last year, chemical spraying to wipe out an invasive bass population in Miramichi Lake is set to take place later this summer. Last year's attempt to eradicate smallmouth bass was halted because Wolastoqey grandmothers and mothers concerned about the environmental impact of the spray took to the lake in canoes. It is unsafe to spray rotenone, the fish-killing pesticide being used, when people are on the water.
The loons will soon be back, and the past year has brought startling scientific research that shows our best loved bird is not always what you thought it was. Walter Piper of Chapman University in California is the continent’s top researcher in loons and their behaviour. He tracks loons on hundreds of lakes in Wisconsin and Minnesota — similar, he says, to central Ontario, which he also knows. And he has found a problem.
Respect for water was as much a part of Phillip Solomon’s fishing education as sawing through thick winter ice. The Anishinaabe fisherman can see how rising temperatures are changing Gitchigumi and the fish his community relies on. Sometime in the early 1990s, the ice was so unusually thick and smooth on Gitchigumi that Anishinaabe fisherman Phillip Solomon drove his car, a 1984 Monte Carlo, across the lake from Fort William First Nation to Pie Island with a friend. “There was seven feet of ice,” says Phillip, who everyone calls “Benny.” “There was no snow. We cut the hole, standing in the hole. I was standing in six feet of ice.” By the time he and his friend cut all the way through the ice, there was only a foot of water to fish in, and the two had to set their net somewhere else.
University biologists say striped bass that recently washed ashore in northern Cape Breton probably died from a sudden temperature change in the ocean. A video posted to the Port Morien Wildlife Association's Facebook page on Monday shows what looks like hundreds of dead fish in North Bay, near Dingwall, N.S. Trevor Avery, a biology professor and lead researcher with the Striped Bass Research Team at Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S., said he doesn't know for sure what happened.
Prince Edward Islanders are being asked to take extra care when moving their boats around this fall. The Nature Conservancy of Canada is concerned about the spread of Eurasian water milfoil, also known as zombie plant. The invasive species has been reported at a few sites on P.E.I. "It's a challenging one to manage," said Andrew Holland, national media relations director with NCC.
The article described the catch as an "Ogopogo," which is a gibberish word derived from nx̌ax̌aitkʷ in the Syilx language — pronounced "n-ha-ha-it-koo" — meaning "something in the water," according to Chief Byron Louis of the Okanagan Indian Band, one of the seven communities of the Syilx Nation in B.C. The mystical creature's name and story carry religious meaning to the Syilx Nation and is believed to inhabit Okanagan Lake.
The researchers found that from 1980 to 2017, oxygen levels fell by about five per cent near the surface and 19 per cent in deep waters, they reported in the journal Nature last week. The decline in oxygen levels in lakes is 2.75 to 9.3 times higher than the decline in oxygen in the world's oceans, which has also raised concern among scientists about the health of aquatic life. The fact that water can't hold as much oxygen at warmer temperatures is a main factor in decreasing oxygen levels in both lakes and oceans. When the surface waters warm, they also mix less with deeper waters, disrupting the downward flow of oxygen.
Gary Griffin chokes up as he describes seeing water flowing freely for the first time under a bridge replacing part of the Petitcodiac River causeway. For decades, Griffin publicly pushed for restoration of tidal flow on the river. Now he smiles as he looks out at the water from a park in Riverview. "That was the greatest feeling in the world," Griffin said of watching the water. "You don't know how good that feels after 50 years of trying to fix it." The sports fisherman came to Moncton in the late 1960s. At the time, a 20-year study of salmon populations completed in 1966 estimated salmon runs at 8,000 to 10,000 fish, the Times & Transcript reported.
A potato wash plant in Travellers Rest is cleaning up its act, and the pressure is on after the province issued a directive letter in mid-January. P.E.I. Potato Solutions is getting ready to open a new, larger facility next month, said co-owner Austin Roberts. Neighbours have made numerous complaints to the provincial Department of Environment as well as Environment Canada regarding the plant’s practices over the years. On Dec. 26, a heavy rainfall, combined with other factors, caused a holding pond containing organic waste from the plant to discharge into the environment.
