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.
Lower Trent Conservation (LTC) says a “flood watch” remains in effect through to Wednesday, April 19 for areas including the municipalities of Brighton and Trent Hills. A flood watch is issued when there is a potential for flooding to occur in low-lying areas. Nuisance or minor flooding of access roads, backyards, basements, et cetera, is anticipated. LTC said buildings and people are not at risk. The flood watch involves the Trent River from Hastings to Trenton.
The Timmins flood advisory committee issued a flood watch Tuesday for the Mattagami River. "The committee reports that the most recent streamflow information for the Mattagami River watershed shows that the elevation of many area rivers and streams are still rising in response to the recent precipitation and continued snowmelt," the group said in a news release.
New Brunswick officials are advising people in flood-prone areas of the province to pay attention as the water levels of the Saint John River are on the rise. The spillway gates at the Mactaquac Dam, near Fredericton, will need to be opened soon because of the rising water, Department of Public Safety spokesman Geoffrey Downey said Monday. “The generators are running at max, and that’s a pretty good sign of how things are trending,” he said in an interview. “In the five-day forecast it’s going from a little over 81,000 cubic feet (of water) per second up to 126,000 cubic feet per second.”
