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.
Quebec will give $2.4 billion over 10 years to help municipalities work on their water and wastewater infrastructure. "We want to repair our water system in Quebec. It's expensive. Our drinking water, we must be careful," said Municipal Affairs Minister Andrée Laforest in an interview with The Canadian Press. This assistance is part of a municipal water infrastructure program called PRIMEAU. Previous PRIMEAU programs had a total envelope of $826.7 million.
The city of Port Colborne is partnering with Service Line Warranties of Canada (SLWC) to help resident homeowners protect themselves from those expected costs. Through the partnership, homeowners in Port Colborne now have access to optional service plans that assist with the cost and management of common plumbing repairs. Specifically, the service plans provide protection for the water and sewer service lines that connect a resident’s home to the cities system.
Sarnia is going to spend a lot of money replacing water and sewer assets over the next 60 years, according to the latest projections from city staff. Building off a recent storm sewer infrastructure report that predicts hundreds of millions of dollars in replacement expenses cumulatively until around 2080, the story is about the same for water pipes and sewer system replacement costs, city officials recently reported to council.
Following May long weekend, communities just north of the United States border will have to focus on conserving their water use. “We are very dependent on a system that was built in the 1900s in Montana to get a consistent source of water to the Milk River,” Coutts Mayor Jim Willet said on Friday. That system ultimately failed on Sunday when the final drop that funnels water from St. Mary’s River in Montana to Milk River in Alberta collapsed.
