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 addition, the On-Farm Applied Research and Monitoring (ONFARM) program will be expanded and enhanced by an additional $7 million over five years. This program is a continuation from the Canadian Agricultural Partnership and will help farmers understand and communicate best on-farm practices to address and improve their soil health and water quality.
Recently it was announced that FREDsense Technologies Corp. (FREDsense) was named one of two cleantech innovation challenge winners. They are being honored for their technology which allows one-hour water quality monitoring for contaminants in the field with the same accuracy as traditional labs. The award was announced in a joint news release by Foresight Canada and United Utilities.
Unsolved environmental problems, a national mandate to uphold treaty responsibilities and a new appreciation for positive treaty relationships are leading some water researchers to consider new approaches to their work. They are examining how water monitoring practices that are conventionally considered strong, can be improved. Recent research examined how water quality monitoring in the lower Grand River and nearby Lake Erie can inform management to address prolific growth of nuisance algae. Nuisance algae affect wildlife habitats and fishing, as well as swimming and boating. This work is part of the Lake Futures Group at the University of Waterloo and Global Water Futures, Canada’s largest water research collaboration.
