Saskatoon’s iconic river boat cancels final season until water levels improve

WATCH: Saskatoon’s iconic river boat the Prairie Lily is cancelling its final season due to low water levels in the South Saskatchewan River.

Saskatoon’s iconic river boat the Prairie Lily is cancelling its final season due to low water levels in the South Saskatchewan River.

“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,” Captain Mike Steckhan said in a news release Wednesday.

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“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.”

Mike and his wife Joan Steckhan, who run the 119-passenger river cruise ship, say the Water Security Agency (WSA) has been retaining water in Lake Diefenbaker since 2021 due to lower rates of precipitation, so the city’s stretch of water is no longer seeing the occasional “flushes” that move sand silt downstream and clear the channel.

The couple says local businesses, including the Prairie Lily, brought officials from the WSA out for a cruise last year to show them the conditions before they became an issue.

“No action has been taken,” said Mike.

“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 Steckhans acknowledge the WSA needs to retain water for power production and irrigation but says water levels in Lake Diefenbaker are above historic average highs, “and will continue to rise next month from the expected spring run-off from the above-average snowpack from the Rocky Mountains.”

But the Water Security Agency disputes their claim.

“The current level for Lake Diefenbaker is about half a meter higher than normal for this time of year, however the mountain snowpack at the headwaters of the [South] Sask. river range from below to well below normal,” the WSA told CTV News in an email.

The water management organization even said as much in its April runoff report.

Still, the Steckhans say they’re not asking for much.

“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,” said Mike.

“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 scheduled to begin its final season of cruises on Saturday.