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.
In a wealthy enclave along the Santa Monica Mountains that is a haven for celebrities, residents are now facing more aggressive consequences for wasting water. The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District northwest of Los Angeles hopes to spur water savings by making it easier to fine households that go over their allotted “water budgets" and threatening to vastly limit water flow to customers who repeatedly fail to conserve.
