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.
In light of last summer's extreme weather, city staff have developed new recommendations to help Kamloops reduce water use in times of drought and heat, and to protect its water supply for emergency firefighting efforts. In a civic operations committee meeting Tuesday, Greg Wightman, the city’s utility services manager, said staff have developed some measures to be implemented this summer, and have also started a review of the city’s water master plan.
