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Latest news about the Safe Drinking Water Team
Oneida Nation of the Thames, a First Nation just south of London, Ont., that has been on a boil-water advisory since 2019, has secured $43 million in federal funding to bring treated drinking water to the community. The connection to the Lake Huron Primary Water System will supply potable water to more than 500 homes and public buildings to the community, which is home to nearly 2,200 residents.
Local and federal officials are cautiously optimistic construction will be underway this spring for a water pipeline to serve the Oneida Nation of the Thames in southwestern Ontario. The pipeline, still in the design phase, is expected to be 18 kilometres long and connect the First Nation community with clean drinking water through the Lake Huron Water Supply System.
A state of emergency remains in effect for the Oneida Nation of the Thames as water levels have fluctuated from critically low to extremely high in a “very short time frame.” Oneida officials first declared a state of emergency on Dec. 15, 2022, after an “all-time low water level was recorded in the community’s water tower,” its main source of water. Community members were asked to cease all non-essential water use over the holiday period.
I would like to thank the Global Landscapes Forum and the United Nations General Assembly for having me here today to share my concerns and share why my people have a sacred connection to the water and the lands. I would like to start by sharing that the work I do is in honour of my late Great Auntie Biidaasige-ba. If it weren’t for her lifetime commitment and sacrifices to create the awareness and the sacredness of water, I would not be standing here today. She inspired me to do this work as she was an Elder when she began. I thought about who would keep doing her work one day; I just didn’t expect that day to come as soon as it did. She created the Mother Earth Water Walks. She walked around all the Great Lakes, more than once. She did this because the Elders began to see changes in the lands, medicines, animals and waters.
