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 more rain expected this week, the flood fight in Peguis First Nation is taking on renewed urgency today, with crews working rapidly to build up dikes and sandbagging around homes. Water levels in the community have gone down in recent days, enough so that a tractor trailer was able to make a delivery to the local grocery store. But rain in the forecast has residents worried water levels will rise back up again.
Manitoba's flood forecaster has downgraded the province's risk of a major flood due to the slow spring melt for the second time in two weeks. The weather the past two weeks has been "very favourable," with no major precipitation and temperatures near 0 C, and it's expected to remain that way into the first week of April, said Fisaha Unduche, executive director of hydrologic forecasting and water management with Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure.
