The Churchill River water level is at about half of what's considered normal. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

tourism

Low water, wildfires sets the scene for unusual summer along Churchill River

Jul 19, 2023 | 12:00 PM

Low water and the threat of forest fires is making for a unique year along the Churchill River.

Data provided from the Water Security Agency shows flows near Otter Rapids and at Patuanak are currently about half of what would be considered normal. At both sites, flows are similar to what was last observed in July 2016, but above what observed in the early 1990s.

The extreme change in water level has been noticed by Ric Driediger, the owner and operator of Churchill River Canoe Outfitters based at Missinipe. Every summer, 6,000 to 8,000 canoers are served by his business that offers guided tours in the Churchill River area, as well as Manitoba and Nunavut.

“Since 2006, the water has been really, really high,” he explained.

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“Like historically high, and from about 1988 to 2006, the water was historically low. Now, we are kind of back to that low. It was lower than this in the early 90s for about four or five years, so it goes back and forth. This is nothing to be alarmed about. It just is what it is.”

Driediger mentioned one benefit of the water level being low is canoers are able to see the rock shoreline and more details of the Canadian Shield.

Data from the Water Security Agency shows flows and levels on the Churchill River above the confluence with the Reindeer River above Sandy Bay are generally low, although above normal outflow from Reindeer Lake via the Whitesand Dam is helping to keep flows and levels further downstream near normal.

“In those high-water years when it was historically high like the last 18 years, we kind of lost the beautiful rock outcroppings,” Driediger said. “It is kind of nice like this. People who are whitewater paddlers kind of like it too, because they can kind of use their skill to dodge rocks instead of just plowing through big waves. It’s kind of nice, but a little bit more would be good and certainly rain would be good.”

Ric Driediger has owned Churchill River Canoe Outfitter since 1986, but has been familar with the areas since the 1970s. (Facebook/Churchill River Canoe Outfitters)

The low water is concerning for Driediger because he said low water means it’s dry, which in turn means more forest fires. He mentioned many of his customers come from Europe and there have been several overseas cancellations because they are concerned about wildfires.

“A lot of our clients come from Europe, England and this year we had several groups from Australia, and a lot of them aren’t coming because of Canada is on fire,” Driediger said.

“It is overblown a bit. I don’t think people understand that just because there’s a fire over there, it doesn’t affect us over here. It’s kind of like if there is a fire burning in Saskatoon, do the people in Regina worry? Northern Saskatchewan is really big and, if there are fires in one area, we stay clear of that area, but there are a lot of spaces there are no fires and people really don’t understand how much space there is here.”

Tourists from all over the world come to Northern Saskatchewan for canoeing. There’s an estimated 100,000 lakes in the North, many of which are interconnected by rivers, creeks or short portages.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno