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.
Replacing aging water mains and old connectors made of lead will be the focus of $65 million of major construction projects in Saskatoon by the city this summer. "Approximately 23 km of water and sewer mains will be replaced or rehabilitated this year and about 820 water and sewer service connections are being replaced," said Terry Schmidt, the city's general manager of transportation and construction. Before 1950, water connections from homes to water mains under the streets were made of lead.
