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

population growth

Water management to cost Montreal billions; city launches public consultation

Water management to cost Montreal billions; city launches public consultation

Aging infrastructure, climate change and population growth are putting significant pressure on Montreal’s water resources. Faced with the magnitude of the issues and planned investments, the city is launching a public consultation on the future of water in its territory. Montreal is wasting too much drinking water, it is dumping too many pollutants into the St. Lawrence River, its aging infrastructure is unable to swallow the ever-increasing quantity of water spilled during torrential rains, and the city does not have enough money to update and adapt its infrastructure related to water management.

Swimming pools and lavish gardens of the rich are driving water shortages, study says

Swimming pools and lavish gardens of the rich are driving water shortages, study says

Swimming pools, flower gardens, indoor fountains — and the urbanites who can afford them — are big factors behind the increasingly dire water crises plaguing cities, an international research team says. Published in the journal Nature Sustainability, a new study found socioeconomic disparity to be just as influential as climate change and population growth when it comes to explaining why the water supply in so many cities is shrinking.

Lakeshore breaks ground on much-needed waste water expansion

Lakeshore breaks ground on much-needed waste water expansion

The municipality of Lakeshore will be getting a new much-needed upgrade to its sewage facility after the plant reached its operational capacity last year putting a damper on new development in the region. "We had fears that it could be two [or] three years before we would get this built and we're pleased it's moving along so fast," Lakeshore mayor Tom Bain said.

Can Wall Street help us find the true price of water?

Can Wall Street help us find the true price of water?

Despite the apparent abundance of water in Canada, she said, low prices mean the best-quality water in many regions — such as Southern Ontario groundwater — is in increasingly short supply and is being overused. Roy Brouwer, executive director of the Water Institute at the University of Waterloo, said that when he came to Canada from the Netherlands five years ago, he was surprised by the low price and wasteful misuse of water in this country.

Earth's frozen 'water towers' threatened by warming, population growth, report says

Earth's frozen 'water towers' threatened by warming, population growth, report says

Water frozen at the tops of mountains that helps sustain up to a quarter of the human population is under threat from climate change, population growth and lack of proper management, according to a new international study. The systems store and transport water through glaciers, snow packs, lakes and streams. They supply water to 1.9 billion people on Earth. A group of 32 international scientists — including one Canadian — published a paper in the journal Nature on Monday to highlight the importance and vulnerabilities of what they call Earth's 78 water towers.

City of Iqaluit declares 2nd water emergency in 2 years

City of Iqaluit declares 2nd water emergency in 2 years

The city of Iqaluit has declared a water emergency, for the second time in two years. Lake Geraldine— the reservoir for the city's potable water— is at a "historic low." There is less water in Lake Geraldine now than there was when the city declared a water emergency in 2018.

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