SASKATOON - The Prairie Lily, Saskatoon's popular tourist vessel that routinely goes out across the South Saskatchewan River on daily treks with a long list of eager passengers, has been docked for some time now.
It's not what staff wanted for the longtime boat, particularly in what is supposed to be the Lily's final year, but they are making the best of it with daily events onboard.
The vessel hasn't been able to go out on cruises due to the river being noticeably low this year.
This comes even after the Water Security Agency (WSA) announced that it would begin letting out water at 90 cubic meters per second instead of 65 from the Gardiner Dam's reservoir at Lake Diefenbaker.
The practice is being done in order to help flush out years of built-up silt in the bottom of the South Saskatchewan River. Based on the WSA's projections, the reservoir is expected to rise by approximately 0.57 m over the next ten days.
However, according to Mike Steckhan, captain of the Prairie Lily, such a measure isn't enough to stand up to the problem that the boat still has in being docked, and he points to this measure as being nothing more than "a drop in the bucket."
“Instead of trickling the water release by 25 cms, the outflow should be managed so there’s enough flow to remove the silt. Save the water until the reservoir is full to the WSA’s projected 0.57 m, then manage a major release. That makes more environmental common sense for the entire river valley,” said Steckhan in a media release.
Steckhan says that responsible environmental stewardship would take into account the extreme levels of sediment in the South Saskatchewan River, downstream of the Gardiner Dam, caused by five years of water that he says was withheld by the government agency. In Steckhan's view, the resulting impact on the river caused by the lack of outflow is the accumulation of sandbars that have created islands of silt in the riverbed along with the reduction of natural fish habitat and a significantly reduced water resource for animals who rely on the river.
Steckhan estimates that at the stated 90 cms release that began on Friday, August 1, there will be what he calls a "meager" two-inch increase in the river’s water level, which he says is not enough to mitigate any damage or move any sand.
“It’s a waste of a valuable resource. Sure, a minimal amount of power will be created, but it won’t add significantly to the province’s grid,” he said. “With sand accumulating daily, it’s going to take even more water to move it as the weeks and months go by. The release of so little water just doesn’t make sense – especially when they’ve stated there will be enough water in the coming days to save the river.”
Steckhan believes that a larger flush of the system would see the sediment pushed down the river to the delta where it's needed. With a larger outflow, he says that the people of Saskatoon and others could then continue to enjoy the views of the South Saskatchewan River.
Just this week, the Water Security Agency released its ten day forecast for the Saskatchewan river system, including data for the Gardiner Dam and Lake Diefenbaker.
"Between August 2 and 4, rainfall accumulations ranged from 20–40 mm in the Alberta headwaters and 30–50 mm in the Saskatchewan portion of the basin. Heavier-than-forecast precipitation occurred near Lake Diefenbaker on Saturday, leading to a rapid increase in inflows. Peak inflows reached approximately 483 m³/s on August 3. Inflows have since begun a gradual decline and are forecast to continue decreasing over the coming days. However, they are expected to remain above the upper quartile for at least the next week," reads the forecast.
"The reservoir is currently at 554.66 m, which is below the long-term median for August. Outflows remain at 90 m³/s in response to the sustained high inflows.
In the headwaters, flows in the Bow, Oldman, and Red Deer Rivers peaked last week following the rainfall event and are now receding.
An additional 10–20 mm of precipitation is forecast over the next three days for the headwaters and areas near Lake Diefenbaker."
Gardiner Dam is expected to carry a daily mean outflow of 90 m/s until August 16.
