Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

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.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

lower water levels

ALLISTER AALDERS: April has been dry, and it’s concerning

ALLISTER AALDERS: April has been dry, and it’s concerning

It has been a divided month weather-wise throughout April. Most of the month featured a blocking pattern that led to relentless clouds, fog, and drizzle for eastern Newfoundland, with fair conditions in other parts of that province and for most of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. There is one common trend across the entire region, though — it’s dry.  How dry? While we have a few days left to add to these numbers, there’s little precipitation ahead for Atlantic Canada to finish the month.   

Lower water levels affecting Canadian crop shipments

Lower water levels affecting Canadian crop shipments

Although the lower river levels of the Mississippi River are perhaps better documented as affecting the movement of product into and through the US, Canada’s St. Lawrence River is also experiencing its shortcomings. The St. Lawrence River route with ports on both the US and Canadian sides moves a lot of agricultural products—about 40 percent of the Seaway’s trade. Note that the St. Lawrence route also moves cargo down via the Mississippi into the US, and vice versa.

Water outlook ‘bleak’ as glaciers recede in Rocky Mountains

Water outlook ‘bleak’ as glaciers recede in Rocky Mountains

Where fly fisherman Shane Olson once paddled summer tourists around in a boat, he now guides them by foot — carefully navigating shallow waters one step at a time. “Every year, these rivers seem to be getting smaller, faster,” the 48-year-old said as he whipped a fishing line over the Crowsnest River. “We are pushing it to the absolute breaking point” During the second half of this century, most Canadian Rocky glaciers will melt, according to a 2019 study in Water Resources Research. The region’s water outlook will be “bleak” long before then, said University of Lethbridge geographer Christopher Hopkins. Currently, warmer temperatures are causing mountain snow and ice to melt earlier in the year, increasing the likelihood of summertime water shortages, according to research published last year in Environmental Reviews.

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