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.
Lower Trent Conservation (LTC) says a “flood watch” remains in effect through to Wednesday, April 19 for areas including the municipalities of Brighton and Trent Hills. A flood watch is issued when there is a potential for flooding to occur in low-lying areas. Nuisance or minor flooding of access roads, backyards, basements, et cetera, is anticipated. LTC said buildings and people are not at risk. The flood watch involves the Trent River from Hastings to Trenton.
A flood watch is in effect for Hamilton, with higher water levels expected in low-lying areas and area watercourses due to rain on Thursday, Hamilton Conservation Authority (HCA) says. HCA said in a news release the Hamilton area is expected to receive 20 to 26 millimetres of rain. HCA water resources engineer Jonathan Bastien said the main concern is the run-off uncertainty response to the rain.
A Flood Watch has been issued for Niagara's Lake Erie shoreline. With Environment Canada issuing a special weather statement, the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority says the strong winds in tomorrow's forecast will increase water levels and waves along the Lake Erie shoreline in Port Colborne and Fort Erie. The Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry predicts that Lake Erie water levels will rise by more than four feet above current levels tomorrow.
A flood warning was issued for Carmacks, Yukon, Tuesday as the Yukon River continues to rise near the community. "Low lying areas are currently flooding," reads a news release from the Yukon government's Emergency Measures Organization (EMO). The river level rose by 21 cm in the last 24 hours, according to EMO. Part of the rise is because of rain. The weather forecast calls for more rain on Wednesday and then some clearing.
The Timmins flood advisory committee issued a flood watch Tuesday for the Mattagami River. "The committee reports that the most recent streamflow information for the Mattagami River watershed shows that the elevation of many area rivers and streams are still rising in response to the recent precipitation and continued snowmelt," the group said in a news release.
The Portage Diversion will be closed Saturday due to declining water levels on the Assiniboine River but the floodway will remain open, according to a release by the province. A flood warning continues for the Red River from Emerson to the Red River Floodway channel inlet. The province said the Red River is expected to peak sometime between April 20-22 in Emerson with peak flows ranging from 20,000 and 24,300 cubic feet per second.
Haldimand County says a flood warning is in effect for the Lake Erie shoreline until Tuesday morning as the area is expected to see strong winds and high waves. The county issued a community notice on Monday, saying the waves could be as high as two metres along the shoreline when the water level peaks in the evening. "Flooding is expected to impact low lying areas along the shoreline and could reach Flood Zone 2," read the notice.
Thirty years ago, a public backlash over the issuance of a half-dozen water-shipping permits spurred B.C. to put a moratorium on bulk water exports, a measure later backed up with legislation. Santa Barbara-based Sun Belt Water, which had a deal with Snowcap Waters of Fanny Bay to ship supertankers of water to California, announced it would challenge that decision under NAFTA, but then the story petered out.
Residents are warned to stay away from rivers and streams as parts of the North Shore, Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast are currently under a flood watch, while Metro Vancouver remains under a rainfall warning. Environment Canada said 75 to 150 millimetres of rain is expected to fall between Friday and Sunday morning, causing rivers and streams to rise very quickly.
As water levels in Lake Laberge hit a historic high, the Yukon government is issuing three new flood watches — adding to the flood warning already out for the Southern Lakes region. In the Southern Lakes area, boil water advisories have also been issued for residents of Army Beach and South McClintock with wells or underground water storage tanks as a "precautionary measure."
The hamlet of Aklavik, N.W.T., is still on high alert as water levels continue to waver, says Mayor Andrew Charlie on Monday. "Water levels are still kind of high," Charlie said. "It's dropped for a bit and then it comes up a bit, drops again." He says many of the roads are still above water, since in the past, the community had elevated some of the roads. However, a few were still submerged as of Monday morning, including a service road to the community's dump. "People are still getting around," Charlie said.
A state of emergency has been declared in Aklavik, N.W.T., after water started rising over the road that leads to the hamlet's dump, according to a statement issued by its mayor and council overnight. Residents would start being evacuated from their homes Sunday morning between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. local time, the statement said. The remote community of roughly 600 people has been on flood watch for about a week and is the latest of several communities in the Northwest Territories to be affected by historic flooding on the Mackenzie River, caused by the spring breakup.
