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.
Exploding goldfish populations that can successfully survive the winter are wreaking havoc on native fish species across the country, in suburban storm water ponds, in lakes and other waterways. Researchers in B.C. recently warned the invasive fish is moving in schools the size of football fields and spreading from Vancouver to other parts of B.C.
The City of Saskatoon is battling an invasive species in its storm ponds. More than 450 kilograms, or 1,000 pounds, of invasive goldfish of various sizes were collected from three different storm ponds in the city last week. "If you're standing on the edge of the pond on a sunny day, you can often quite easily see the large numbers of goldfish," said Brodie Thompson, an engineering manager with the city. Thompson said goldfish are an "adaptable and tenacious" species, making them difficult to get rid of.
