Lake Ontario

Indigenous walkers protest poor water

Indigenous walkers protest poor water

Ten Indigenous men and women walked from Kingston to Parliament Hill with a copper pail in hand as part of an annual water walk. “Mr. Trudeau said he’d give all of our people fresh water, clean water on our territories,” said Lisa Cadue, who organized the walk. Cadue is from Tyendinaga and says she still doesn’t have clean water. “We’ve been on a boil water advisory for 33 years,” she said. Cadue has been participating in the water walks for at least 10 years, but Indigenous peoples have been doing these walks all across Canada for clean water before her.

Ontario First Nations chief hails federal funding to end five long-term drinking water advisories

Ontario First Nations chief hails federal funding to end five long-term drinking water advisories

The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation is expanding its water system to deliver clean drinking water to hundreds of residents who have been grappling for more than a decade with seven drinking water advisories. The Bay of Quinte is on Lake Ontario and the First Nation is not remote or isolated. It’s just off Ontario’s Highway 401, between Toronto and Montreal. Chief R. Donald Maracle said his community has suffered from a lack of safe water since 2008, due to fecal, bacterial and algae contaminations. A regional drought made many groundwater wells go completely dry in 2017.

Water levels on Lake Ontario in Cobourg rise above 2017 flood level

Water levels on Lake Ontario in Cobourg rise above 2017 flood level

As of Wednesday morning, water levels on Lake Ontario at Cobourg exceeded those seen in the historic 2017 flood. According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the water level at Cobourg is 75.92 metres above sea level. At its highest in 2017, the level was 75.88 metres above sea level. “We’re approximately 40 centimetres above normal,” Cobourg Mayor John Henderson said. “With the rain we got this week, I expect that 40 centimetres will be higher, approaching 60 centimetres.”

Great Lakes are rapidly warming, likely to trigger more flooding and extreme weather

Great Lakes are rapidly warming, likely to trigger more flooding and extreme weather

The Great Lakes region is warming faster than the rest of the U.S., a trend that is likely to bring more extreme storms while also degrading water quality, worsening erosion and posing tougher challenges for farming, scientists report. In a report commissioned by the Chicago-based Environmental Law & Policy Center, the annual mean air temperature in the region increased 0.89 C in the periods 1901-60 and 1985-2016 — compared to 0.67 C for the rest of U.S.