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 residents of Merritt, B.C., will be returning to their homes this week after the entire city's population was forced to flee due to extreme flooding that caused the complete failure of the municipality's wastewater system last Monday. Relentless rain caused the Coldwater River, which runs through the southern Interior community, to overrun its banks Nov. 15, triggering an evacuation order for all 7,000 residents shortly after 7 a.m.
