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.
Residents are warned to stay away from rivers and streams as parts of the North Shore, Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast are currently under a flood watch, while Metro Vancouver remains under a rainfall warning. Environment Canada said 75 to 150 millimetres of rain is expected to fall between Friday and Sunday morning, causing rivers and streams to rise very quickly.
Atmospheric rivers are like rivers in the sky, which transport large amounts of water vapour from the equator northward. CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe said the weather system will be bringing a long episode of heavy rain to the South Coast. "The atmospheric river is hitting the South Coast through Friday and into the weekend, basically a plume of moisture, bringing all of that rain from the western Pacific and it will feel like we are at the end of a fire hose aimed right at the South Coast," explained Wagstaffe.
Residents downstream from Peterborough may want to boil their water, after heavy rainfall has led to a discharge of partially-treated sewage into the Otonabee River. On Thursday, Sept. 23, around 1 p.m., the city’s Twitter account posted a notice saying that due to current water conditions, the city water treatment plant had to “start a temporary, partial bypass.” "This means that some partially treated sewage is being discharged to the Otonabee River," reads the Tweet.
The front lawn at Habitat for Humanity in Thunder Bay, Ont., is smaller thanks to the work of some volunteers, to build a new rain garden. The garden, measuring about four metres by three metres, will help absorb water running off of the roof of the group's office and ReStore in the city. The rain garden was created with the work of volunteers on Wednesday morning. "It's one of many different techniques that you can use in an urban watershed to manage storm water runoff," said Julia Prinselaar, a program coordinator with EcoSuperior.
Windsor Regional Hospital's two main campuses have flooded due to heavy rainfall throughout Windsor-Essex. While water damage is of concern, no patient services have been impacted with the exception of the Cardiac Catheterization Lab at the Ouellette Campus, according to a media release. The lab is closed until Monday due to flooding in the basement area where equipment is stored.
A potato wash plant in Travellers Rest is cleaning up its act, and the pressure is on after the province issued a directive letter in mid-January. P.E.I. Potato Solutions is getting ready to open a new, larger facility next month, said co-owner Austin Roberts. Neighbours have made numerous complaints to the provincial Department of Environment as well as Environment Canada regarding the plant’s practices over the years. On Dec. 26, a heavy rainfall, combined with other factors, caused a holding pond containing organic waste from the plant to discharge into the environment.