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.
In the summer, an electric fence is what makes rotational grazing work, especially when trying to devise a water system, which he considers crucial year-round. “And so you’re gonna have to make an investment in some water pipes, getting the water line in pasture, and then come up with some water points where you can move those animals around your farm. “You don’t want an animal to walk much more than 1,000 feet to get water.”
On his ranch, Doug Wilson walks past an old abandoned three-storey home and stands at the bank of what had once been the flowing Maple Creek. The creek is dry again this year as brittle, dead tree debris litters the edges. Grass is growing where, at one time, water would have normally passed by. “Over the last 20 years we’ve seen a huge amount of tree loss,” Wilson said earlier this summer near the southwest Saskatchewan town. “It’s dying. The whole area is dying.” Wilson relies on the water to feed his cattle. It represents his livelihood and helps him survive. But over the last few years, he’s had to reduce his herd size from 600 cattle to 400. He’s also had to pay for someone else’s feed because he’s been short on water.
The Alberta government wants to rewrite the rules on water use along the eastern slopes of the Rockies as part of its economic recovery plan, including a push for new coal developments in the area. Water use is highly restricted in southern Alberta due to concerns about supply, and new water licences cannot be issued, they have to be purchased from existing licence holders on the open market. The new plan put forward by the Alberta government would affect water pulled from the Oldman watershed above the dam.
