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.
The British Columbia government is restricting water use around a river on southeastern Vancouver Island that is so low its fish populations — including steelhead, coho salmon and trout — may be threatened.
The Forests and Lands Ministry says the current flow of the Koksilah River south of Duncan has dropped below 180 litres per second, meaning habitat conditions are "severely degraded."