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.
Residential water bills in Edmonton are going up about four per cent and commercial bills are going up by about eight per cent, but the increases would have been higher if not for $66-million discount from EPCOR. In a report to Edmonton councillors on March 25, EPCOR expects the average residential water bill to increase by 3.7 per cent in 2022, 2.1 per cent in 2023 and 4.2 per cent in 2024. That means paying $102 a month in 2021, $106 in 2022, $108 in 2023 and $113 in 2024.
