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

water supplies

How wildfires can have a devastating, long-term impact on nearby water supplies

How wildfires can have a devastating, long-term impact on nearby water supplies

Some researchers thought her team wouldn't even be able to detect an impact from the fires because the Athabasca River was already looking like tea before the fires. Heavy rains tend to send hot fudge-looking runoff from the land into the river, making it look like chocolate milk, she said. Arriving after the fires, Emelko said she could see that hot fudge-looking flow enter the Athabasca's waters as ash, likely carrying nutrients like phosphorous and carbon, made the water supply challenging for treatment processes. "Those [workers] were living in the water treatment plant, working hard to make sure that people could return to their homes and at least have safe water to drink," Emelko told Day 6 host Brent Bambury.

Will the Sunshine Coast face another water crisis? Here are the factors at play

Will the Sunshine Coast face another water crisis? Here are the factors at play

Regional district staff detailed 2023 Chapman water system scenarios based on repeats of 2021 or 2022 weather conditions at an April 6 committee meeting. Both revealed Church Road well supply, to be added when Stage 2 restrictions come into force, should allow the time at Stage 3 restrictions (if called) to be extended, with less time at Stage 4 (if needed).

Tunisia to cut off public water supplies overnight due to drought

Tunisia to cut off public water supplies overnight due to drought

Tunisia will cut off water supplies to citizens for seven hours a night in response to the country's worst drought on record, state water distribution company SONEDE said in a statement on Friday. The country's agriculture ministry earlier introduced a quota system for potable water and banned its use in agriculture until Sept. 30, as the country battles with a drought that is now in its fourth year.

Trapped sediment in dams 'endangers' water supplies: UN

Trapped sediment in dams 'endangers' water supplies: UN

Thousands of the world's large dams are so clogged with sediment that they risk losing more than a quarter of their storage capacity by 2050, UN researchers said Wednesday, warning of the threat to water security. A new study from the UN University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health found that, by mid-century, dams and reservoirs will lose about 1.65 trillion cubic metres of water storage capacity to sediment.

Iqaluit: A month without clean water in Canada's north

Iqaluit: A month without clean water in Canada's north

It was late September when Adamee Itorcheak, a 56-year-old resident of Iqaluit - the capital of Canada's northernmost and sparsely populated territory of Nunavut - noticed something was wrong with his water. "The kitchen sink was the first indicator," said Mr Itorcheak, recalling a chemical smell coming from the water. Mr Itorcheak, an indigenous Inuk, is one of the approximately 7,700 Iqaluit residents who have been left without potable water for over a month. It took numerous complaints of suspicious odours to get officials to confirm that the city's water supplies were contaminated with fuel. Since a state of emergency was declared on October 12, Iqaluit's residents have been warned that local water supplies are unsafe to drink or cook with. The water was so contaminated that officials warned that it wouldn't be safe even after boiling.

Cattle producers face challenging season thanks to drought

Cattle producers face challenging season thanks to drought

70-year-old Arnold Balicki says he has never seen a drought like this in his ranching area about 45 kilometres west of Prince Albert. The cattle producer and his family have to haul water to the pastures to make sure their animals have enough to drink. Other producers in the province have to do the same. "Our water supplies are dwindling very fast," said Balicki, who owns and operates the LB Ranch north of Shellbrook together with his family.

Alberta environment minister tells rural areas coal mining doesn’t threaten water

Alberta environment minister tells rural areas coal mining doesn’t threaten water

Alberta’s environment minister is trying to reassure rural municipalities in the province’s south that their water supply isn’t threatened by industrial development such as coal mines. Many municipalities have expressed concern about what effects the government’s plan to expand the coal industry would have on water supplies. Environment Minister Jason Nixon says despite changes to water allocation from rivers, environmental rules remain the same.

Baffled over the purpose of new water and watershed bylaw

Baffled over the purpose of new water and watershed bylaw

On Oct. 20, 2018 the citizens of the Cowichan Valley voted for establishing the Drinking Water and Watershed Protection Service Establishment Bylaw (#4202). We thought that this bylaw would be used to protect our water supplies. It has been known for many years that the wells at three commercial establishments on Fisher Road, Cobble Hill had nitrate levels greatly exceeding the Health Canada Drinking Water Guidelines. These wells and surrounding CVRD monitoring wells have been monitored by a number of agencies, including the CVRD, in the past. The Cobble Hill Aquifer Interagency Task Group (CHAITG) was established to deal with this nitrate contamination and this Task Group commissioned Western Water Associates Ltd. (WWAL) to carry out a review of past studies. Surprisingly, this review did not review aquifer nitrite levels, only nitrate levels. Nitrite is a bigger concern than nitrate since nitrite can convert the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin to methemoglobin which does not carry oxygen. Thus, nitrite can cause tissue oxygen deficiency which is particularly problematical for infants and children since it can stunt their mental and physical growth.

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