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Latest news about the Safe Drinking Water Team
A family of three lost their home to a fire on Sunday in Délı̨nę, N.W.T. Community leader Leeroy Andre said the former occupants are safe but that all of their belongings were lost to the flames. The disaster is causing leadership to re-evaluate its resources to deal with fires and how the community can be better equipped for the future. Andre said it's not clear why, but there wasn't enough water pressure coming from the community's firetruck.
Long Plain First Nation had to call on help from its neighbours over the weekend after its water supply ran dry on Friday. Now as tanker trucks haul water from nearby Portage la Prairie to replenish the First Nation's reservoir, leaders in the First Nation are searching for a long-term solution. "I think people are quite concerned by it," Chief Dennis Meeches said about the persistently hot and dry conditions, which drained aquifers that feed the community's reservoir.
The Wet’suwet’en First Nation’s long-term boil water advisory finally came to an end this March. In a news release issued by the First Nation, Chief Maureen Luggi and the elected council of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation announced that the long-term Permanent Boil Water Advisory for the nation had been lifted. The advisory was lifted on March 18. The ban had been in place since March 13, 2013 according to Indigenous Services Canada website and has now been resolved with upgrades to treatment processes and a feasibility study to determine long-term solution. The ban was put in place after arsenic was found in the water and the people were asked not to consume this water directly.
Water is flowing through the taps once again in Big Grassy River First Nation after three months without consistent, potable water. However, the current water is untreated and coming directly from Lake of the Woods as the community waits for repairs to the water filtration system. The result is that community members have had to go to the beach to collect water for basic sanitation needs, and buildings have been shuttered and the school remains closed to students until a running, drinkable water service is restored.
