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.
Water levels on the Assiniboine River and shorelines may create unsafe conditions in the weeks to come as outflow from the Shellmouth dam is increased, Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure warns. The water level is expected to rise by one to two feet between the Shellmouth Dam and Brandon, 160 km southeast of the dam. The expected rise is the result of water released from the Shellmouth Reservoir to make room for spring's flow.
Lake of the Woods and Lac Seul have been hit hard this year with decreasing water levels. The current level of the Lake of the Woods is 322.75 m (1058.9 ft), which is equal to a 30th percentile (per cent of distribution that is equal to or below it) which is considered normal for this time of the year. This past week the lake water level has fallen by 1cm (½ in), and is still expected to drop further by 1 to 3 cm ( 1 in) over the next week.
Rising water levels in the St. Lawrence Seaway could cost the economy more than $1 billion, shippers and port operators say. A new study from the Chamber of Marine Commerce warns that opening the floodgates further at a dam in Cornwall, Ont., would wash away between $1 billion and $1.75 billion in revenue for businesses on both sides of the border. A board of control recently increased the flow at the Moses Saunders Dam — the only control point on the St. Lawrence Seaway, which includes the Great Lakes — to allow 10,400 cubic metres of water per second out of Lake Ontario.
