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.
Businesses and people living west of Edmonton are being asked to limit water use amid hot, dry weather. The City of St. Albert, Alta., asked residents and business owners to conserve water Monday. The three reservoirs that store water for community use and fire protection are at “near critical” levels, according to the city.
Whitehorse residents are being asked to limit their water use while crews work on repairing a damaged sewer main near the Yukon River. The city shut down the Marwell Lift Station and began to discharge wastewater into the river through bypass valves early Tuesday. While working to fix the leak, crews found additional damage.
Residents in areas that draw their water supply from the Thames River watershed are still being urged to conserve water where possible. The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) continues to warn of low water levels after initially making the declaration on July 18, 2022. It says it's not a crisis but that the time to conserve is now. "For Level 1 and Level 2, it's about awareness, making people aware that we have lower water levels, and encouraging some conservation practices," said Eleanor Heagy, Communications and Marketing Coordinator.
A hot and muggy evening became a sudden monsoon in parts of southern Manitoba on Tuesday, with sideways rain, golf-ball-sized hail and flooding. "It was very sudden and unexpected. We all just got very soaked. It caught us all off guard," said Cori Bezan, who had headed out for dinner at the Winkler golf course as the clouds rolled in. "By the time we sat down to dinner, the temperature was just dropping and the wind was picking up and all of a sudden we could just see a sheet of rain advancing over the golf course."
The City of Saskatoon is cleaning up after as much as 75 millimetres of rain fell in some areas on Monday, leading to flooded streets and properties. The city said Tuesday that crews had worked overnight to address flooded roadways. Crews popped manhole covers to release water that had hit the city's south, north and east sides especially hard. A news release said that the majority of the city had been cleared by Tuesday morning, except for areas in the southeast that still had barricades for driver and pedestrian safety. The city said those barricades should be removed by the end of the day.
