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.
Archeologists, historians and divers are trying to digitally capture more than 1,000 shipwrecks at the bottom of the Great Lakes before they become unrecognizable after a combination of invasive mussels and climate change have accelerated their deterioration at an alarming rate. The Great Lakes region is known among diving circles as one of the best places in the world to explore shipwrecks because the cold, fresh water offers ideal conditions for their preservation, even in shallow water.
On Oct. 12, due to concerns about fuel contamination, Iqaluit issued a do-not-consume order for its tap water that lasted nearly two months. The city of 8,000 would eventually point to an underground fuel spill as the potential cause of the contamination. After learning that the city's water was not safe to drink, residents in Iqaluit collected water from the nearby Sylvia Grinnell River. The military was dispatched to help provide treated water from the river using mobile water treatment units.
At the height of the floods that ripped through B.C. in late November, Ripples Estate Winery in Abbotsford was under seven feet of water. A greenhouse full of tropical plants, expensive electronic distilling equipment, and most of their stock of wine, vodka, gin and rum were underwater. Blueberry fields were also drenched for nearly two weeks, including heavy machinery like harvesters, bobcats and tractors.
Photos show just how deep the floodwaters were last week following a storm across the southern half of British Columbia. Images captured by The Canadian Press show three areas of Abbotsford, B.C., as they looked underwater, at the height of the flooding in the Fraser Valley city. The same locations were then photographed again as the water receded, showing the dramatic impact of the previous storm.
The UK and other countries announced a new initiative to help small island states, which are arguably the countries most threatened by climate change. Due to rising seas, many may find themselves literally underwater. The new scheme is called the Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS) facility. It will help small island states to build up resilient infrastructure. The UK is contributing £10 million in the initial phase.
A new children’s book series by a Syilx and Nlaka’pamux author is teaching kids about the importance of water as a living entity and how to protect it. “It was significant and important for me to write this series because water is life. I wanted to create awareness of water practices and policies, to ensure that it’s protected,” says author Harron Hall. The four-book series, titled Follow the Water, will launch on Feb. 5, and marks Harron’s publishing debut.
