SASKATOON – Saskatonians love their Â鶹ÊÓƵ Saskatchewan River, but this year it may be a mucky sandbox.
Organizations from across Saskatoon that plan events in and around the river for local residents to enjoy, as well as citizens partaking in family water fun with their canoes, kayaks and paddleboards, may be stranded on land.
“The water flow over the last few years has been so low that sandbars have taken over the river. The Prairie Lily will have to cancel its cruising season if no action is taken,” says Captain Mike Steckhan of the Prairie Lily, a local business that, for over a decade, has welcomed the people of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and tourists from across Canada and around the world, to behold the beauty of Saskatoon on a cruise on its 119-passenger ship.
“Over the last few seasons, we watched the problem develop with the growing number and size of sandbars in the river. Since 2021, we have managed to sail in low water flow downstream from Lake Diefenbaker. We’ve watched the sandbars form in the river as a result of this low flow and no water events to clear out the sand.”
Prior to 2021, the Water Security Agency (WSA) released water that resulted in occasional “flushes” where the water moved sand and silt downstream, Prairie Lily said in a media release. But with a few dry years and retention of water in the lake, the river hasn’t been flushed in four years. Now the accumulation of sand has increased so much that it’s not possible to navigate or allow us to operate on the river, Steckhan says.
In the summer of 2024, local businesses and organizations operating in and around the river, including the Prairie Lily, contacted the WSA.
“We welcomed their CEO and their VP of Science and Licensing on a personal cruise with me in the wheelhouse last July so they could see and talk firsthand about the concern before it became an issue,” continues Steckhan.
“No action has been taken. We contacted them last week after doing our annual pre-cruising river survey to advise the river was not navigable. We were informed on Friday that they will not release any additional water from the Gardiner Dam.”
The current WSA 10-day provincial forecast issued the same day shows flows will be maintained at the lowest level of 60 centimetres.
The remedy is for the WSA, which controls the flow of water out of the Gardiner Dam, to provide a flow significant enough to move the sandbars, says Steckhan. This is a reasonable — and the only — fix that would allow Saskatoon residents to fully enjoy their river, he adds.
Steckhan says he acknowledges that while Diefenbaker needs to retain water for power production and irrigation, the current lake water levels are above the historic average high and will continue to rise next month from the expected spring runoff from the above-average snowpack in the Rocky Mountains. Right now, the surplus water is just being held, he emphasizes.
Based on his knowledge of the river and historical flows, Steckhan projects Saskatoon would need a flow of 900 cms for 72 hours or 400 cms for a number of days to mitigate the problem. Steckhan adds, “We’re not asking for all the water in the lake. We’re only asking the WSA to provide a volume of flow that allows safe operation on the river. If managed effectively, the river could be navigable at low water levels for another three seasons before additional action may be required.”
The Prairie Lily was set for its final season of cruises starting this Saturday, May 10, but will have to cancel all cruises indefinitely until the WSA releases flow. “People have expressed a lot of excitement to join us for our cruises this summer,” said Joan Steckhan, VP and director of marketing. “But this is not just about us. We are just one of many river users in Saskatoon and Saskatchewan from the dam to Cumberland House and local festivals and events that will not be able to carry their plans forward into the summer. Without mitigation, even low-draft, non-powered users like canoes and kayaks will not be able to enjoy the river in future years.”
Prairie Lily staff will be contacting customers this week to inform ticket holders of the cancelled cruises this weekend and refund tickets. “We will be in touch with our guests for each day, one day at a time, if we cannot sail, and we will uphold our commitment to our wonderful crew to continue paying wages, so they won’t be personally impacted by the sandbars created by the lack of water flow released into the river.”
