Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

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.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

town council

Fingers crossed for additional water licence

Fingers crossed for additional water licence

The Girl Guides of Canada has come to terms with the Town of Cochrane for a water licence sharing agreement, which is now going through a regulatory process. The town has issued a public notice for the transfer of the use of 4.4 million cubic metres of water from the Girl Guides of Canada to the town. Its wording follows specific directions laid out in the Water Act's water allocations transfer process. If successful, it will be redesignated for municipal use from its current status of recreational use.

Prescott goes out to tender on water tower

Prescott goes out to tender on water tower

Prescott is one step closer to getting a new water tower. Town council voted on Monday night to proceed with a request for proposals (RFP) involving the $7-million replacement project slated for the north side of Churchill Road West just west of the town’s new multi-use recreational facility that is nearing completion. The existing water tower located on the south side of Wood Street West between Mayfield Retirement Residence dates back to the 1970s, is nearing the end of its natural life and does not meet the current needs of the town, according to Prescott Director of Operations Nathan Richard.

Castor council talks about increasing water bills

Castor council talks about increasing water bills

Castor town council discussed increasing water bills with the goal of helping their water department break even. The discussion was held during the Nov. 8 regular meeting of council. The discussion began when Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Christopher Robblee gave the regular gas/water report. The CAO stated the water balance was still high for September but there was some good news for councillors: the water loss in October was only 900 metres cubed, which was down “substantially” from the month before.

Sundridge council banning one-time use plastic water bottles at municipal sites

Sundridge council banning one-time use plastic water bottles at municipal sites

The days of using plastic water bottles in municipal-related facilities in the Village of Sundridge will soon end. Town council is supporting a resolution banning the use of disposable one-time use bottles and is encouraging the use of reusable bottles. Coun. Fraser Williamson introduced the motion at council’s Oct. 13 meeting. Williamson was appointed to council over the summer to fill a vacancy, and it so happened his first meeting in July lasted nearly six hours and wrapped up at 11:52 p.m.

Council denies activist’s request for moratorium at Teedon Pit

Council denies activist’s request for moratorium at Teedon Pit

A resident’s plea to stop an aggregate pit just didn’t float with all of Tiny council. Three requests by an ecological defender, in regards to the contentious Teedon Pit extraction in Tiny, were defeated by council during a recent committee of the whole meeting. Anne Ritchie Nahuis appeared virtually before council last month to give a deputation regarding a letter she had sent to the township, chiding them for dragging their feet in halting the potentially aquifer-damaging issues at 90 Darby Road, known as the Teedon Pit.

Calgary’s water likely safe following coal policy changes, High River area a concern

Calgary’s water likely safe following coal policy changes, High River area a concern

Following public uproar of the Alberta government quietly pulling the 1976 coal policy, opening up more areas of the province for coal mining, a Calgary committee has started work to find out how those changes could affect the city on the Bow and Elbow Rivers. “The good news is, we found out today that although there’s different (land use) categories, the main category of the national parks and everything for our river system in the Bow is not affected with this policy,” Ward 1 Coun. Ward Sutherland said. “Obviously we’re very pleased with that.”

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