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.
The Red River is now expected to spill its banks in several places in Manitoba this spring, but is not projected to rise high enough to threaten any communities protected by ring dikes. Provincial flood forecasters raised the flood risk for the Red River from moderate to major on Wednesday, thanks to major snowstorms in recent weeks south of the border.
Spring may feel far off, but the government of Manitoba is making plans to address any potential seasonal flooding that could occur after a difficult flood season last year. The province's Hydrologic Forecast Centre released its first flood outlook for the season on Tuesday and is predicting moderate flows along the Assiniboine and Red rivers, and in the Interlake region along the Fisher and Icelandic rivers.
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.
