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 Biden administration on Friday said it would require states to report on cybersecurity threats in their audits of public water systems, a day after it released a broader plan to protect critical infrastructure against cyberattacks. The Environmental Protection Agency said public water systems are increasingly at risk from cyberattacks that amount to a threat to public health.
To reduce hazardous winter driving conditions, highway departments turn to salt de-icers. Does road salt affect groundwater? If so, is there a lasting impact that can be measured? The Delaware Geological Survey is taking an in-depth look at groundwater quality. Rachel McQuiggan, a researcher at the University of Delaware, is monitoring storm water and groundwater at infiltration basins — large, shallow roadside pools that allow water to infiltrate the groundwater.
A person in Charlotte County, Florida, has died after being infected with the rare brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri. The infection possibly resulted from "sinus rinse practices utilizing tap water," according to a news release from the Florida Department of Health in Charlotte County. The release was issued in February to alert the public about the infection.
Swirling blooms of turquoise phytoplankton along coasts may be happening more often and getting bigger, according to new research published in Nature, raising concerns about the impacts of climate change on the world's oceans. Using data captured by NASA's Aqua satellite, scientists have tracked coastal phytoplankton blooms over 17 years, between 2003 and 2020.
Lopez Obrador had previously ruled out such a plant in the arid northern state of Nuevo Leon where Monterrey is the capital, because he didn’t want water-hungry factories in a region that suffers water shortages. But he said Musk’s company had offered commitments to address those concerns, including using recycled water. “There is one commitment that all the water used in the manufacture of electric automobiles will be recycled water,” Lopez Obrador said.
Have you noticed lower water levels in your favourite creek? Are you worried about your community’s water supply? Do you have questions about how climate change will impact local fish populations? If you have concerns around water in your region, you’re not alone. The Creston Valley is vulnerable to climate change which is altering our water cycle. Disappearing glaciers, record-breaking summer temperatures, prolonged dry periods and extreme flooding all have serious repercussions for our communities and ecosystems.
A U.S. company hoping to revitalize fisheries while pulling carbon dioxide out of the air and water wanted to develop its technology in Canada, but gave up after getting a reception from Canadian authorities as chilly as the North Atlantic. Instead, Running Tide is operating in Iceland, deploying a fleet of sensors in the ocean this year in collaboration with Icelandic shipping company Eimskip.
A third-party review into the emergency response to Iqaluit’s 2021 water crisis has started. It’s one of two reviews expected to stem from the fuel crisis that led to a public order not to consume Iqaluit’s water for a two-month period between October and December 2021. The Department of Community and Government Services has contracted consultation firm DPRA Canada Inc. to conduct the review. DPRA began its work in mid-December, according to the department.
Synthetic chemicals called PFASTrusted Source (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are used in a variety of products, including cosmetics, cleaning productsTrusted Source, and nonstick cookware. Because many PFAS do not break down in landfills and can contaminate sources of drinking water for both humans and animals, they are considered harmful to the environmentTrusted Source. Additionally, exposure to PFAS has been linked to various health concerns.
Once salt permeates a drinking water system, it tends to remain there unless treated by a cost-prohibitively expensive system which also robs drinking water of healthy minerals. So describes City of Greater Sudbury water treatment manager Julie Friel while reflecting on the city’s latest annual water quality report, released earlier this week.
Hope Shanks has seen more than her fair share of the effects of climate change. At least once a year, the bookkeeper for the restaurant and shop in Halls Harbour, N.S., has to help clean up after water from the Bay of Fundy breaches the seawall, sweeps across the parking lot and floods the restaurant. Most recently, on Christmas Eve, the Halls Harbour Lobster Pound was inundated with more than a metre of water.
It’s one part of the two-year Indigenous Knowledge Bridging of Land and Water Stewardship in Tanzania and Canada project, funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). This project aims to access and mobilize Indigenous-led knowledge that will enhance land and water governance and self-determination for Indigenous Peoples in both countries, while also increasing research capacity.
A Mitchell Island metal and used car recycling company requested the right to continue flushing contaminated water into the Fraser River, while it appeals an earlier order to stop the practice. The request was denied. The Environmental Appeal Board, a provincial body that hears appeals of such orders, said it is in the public interest to keep the order for Richmond Steel Recycling (RSR) in place to protect the environment.
Today, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, announced over $11.7 million to support the Ontario Land Trust Alliance to conserve wetlands, grasslands and forests that are currently under threat. Spanning much of the province, the projects will protect from conversion up to 6000 hectares. The projects will also restore another 300 hectares of habitat that supports 60 species at risk, including the Kirtland's Warbler. In addition to protecting species at risk and important ecosystems in people's neighbourhoods, these projects will help keep our air clean and fight climate change, by capturing and storing carbon.
After a winter of epic storms in California, Yosemite National Park's famous waterfalls are in full flow, its reservoirs are brimming, and the snowpack in the surrounding Sierra Nevada Mountains is well above average. In drought-stricken California, that is cause for celebration, but wildlife experts warn that weather extremes driven by climate change can also change habitats too quickly for wildlife to adapt.
A collaboration between climate scientists and Salt Spring’s largest water utility is yielding data — and a plan to improve both forest health and drinking water security for the island. Trustees of the North Salt Spring Waterworks District (NSSWD) heard an update from Transition Salt Spring’s Climate Adaptation Research Lab (CARL) scientist Ruth Waldick at their monthly meeting Thursday, Feb. 23, covering information collected upon — and current plans for — the Maxwell Lake Watershed.
At last report, the Ohio Emergency Management Agency had declared that successful containment of the spilled chemicals meant no further derailment-related die-offs were expected, and that “live fish were returning to Leslie Run,” the nearest small waterway. But local residents remain concerned about the health of waterways. Many worry that toxins may have settled into sediments, posing a persistent danger to benthic organisms (plants and animals at the bottom of the waterway). Those toxins are ready to be released at the slightest disturbance—as simple as a dog chasing a stick, or a wading child.
The Canadian government is facing new calls to stop violating the rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people as UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples Francisco Calí Tzay kicks off his 10-day visit to Canada. Calí Tzay and his delegation will tour Canada from March 1 to March 10. The Special Rapporteur’s mandate includes reporting on the human rights situation of Indigenous Peoples worldwide and addressing specific alleged cases of violations of Indigenous rights.
A potential new gravel pit in Wilmot — dubbed the "Hallman Pit" — goes before the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) Wednesday. This appeal was initiated last May after the township council denied Jackson Harvest Farms Inc. a rezoning application, halting the project, township documents show. However, in late February the township, the Region of Waterloo and Jackson Harvest Farms Inc. submitted a settlement to the OLT, seeking to resolve the issue. That would allow the gravel pit to proceed, with conditions.
Alberta's government House leader is accusing federal officials of trespassing on private property, but the provincial justice department said there's no evidence of that occurring. "We are seeing federal employees trespass onto private land in Alberta and, as a result of that, we don't think that that's appropriate," Joseph Schow, government house leader and MLA for Cardston-Siksika, told reporters Wednesday.
