Latest news with #SaskatchewanRiver
CBC
10-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Lawsuit accuses province of failing to protect Saskatchewan River delta, violating treaty obligations
Social Sharing Cumberland House Cree Nation says the provincial government is not protecting the Saskatchewan River system, and now it's time to take the province to court. Lawyers for the First Nation in northeastern Saskatchewan filed a statement of claim Tuesday in Saskatoon Court of King's Bench, alleging the government has failed to uphold its treaty obligations. It names the government of Saskatchewan as the defendant. For generations, the people of Cumberland House Cree Nation have depended on the Saskatchewan River delta, the largest freshwater river delta in North America, stretching 9,700 square kilometres from northeast Saskatchewan into western Manitoba, the lawsuit says. But government-approved activities upstream — such as dams, irrigation and industrial and urban uses — have dramatically reduced the amount of water that reaches the delta, continually degrading the ecosystem, the lawsuit says. That has affected the ability of the people there to exercise their treaty rights to maintain their way of life, Cumberland House Cree Nation Chief Rene Chaboyer said at a Tuesday news conference in Saskatoon. "We feel that our hand is being forced to … move forward into the court of law to seek justice, and today's a very important day in the history of our community, our province, in our country." He and other community members spoke about how the delta has changed over their lifetimes: the water is no longer safe to drink, species of fish have disappeared, moose are migrating elsewhere, birds are changing their migration patterns and muskrats are hard to find, they said. "Back in the day, it was healthy.… Nowadays it's scary," Chaboyer said. Treaty rights Treaty 5 covers an area of about 260,000 square kilometres in parts of what are now Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. It was signed in 1875, with the ancestors of Cumberland House signing on in 1876. The inhabitants agreed to share their land with the newcomers in exchange for promises, including that Cumberland House would be free to continue to hunt, fish, trap and harvest in the treaty territory, the lawsuit says. "The treaties are what allowed the newcomers to come and settle in Saskatchewan, and the treaties were only made because of that promise that Cumberland House Cree Nation could continue to maintain its way of life," Tim Dickson, the First Nation's lawyer, said at Tuesday's news conference. "That treaty promise is part of the foundation of Canada and of Canadian law. It's protected by the Canadian Constitution and it's enforceable in court." WATCH | Massive Saskatchewan irrigation plan threatens wildlife, opponents say: Massive Saskatchewan irrigation plan threatens wildlife, opponents say 10 months ago Duration 1:55 First Nations and environmental groups warn Saskatchewan's $4 billion farm irrigation plan threatens the diverse ecosystem of the Saskatchewan River Delta — North America's largest inland river delta. The Saskatchewan River delta is the First Nation's homeland and "essential" to their culture and identity, Dickson said. CBC News has reached out to the Saskatchewan government for its response to the lawsuit. Ongoing degradation Activities upstream — including hydroelectric dams, water diversion and withdrawal of water for irrigation, industrial uses and drinking water — have starved the delta of its vital sediment and polluted the water, Cumberland House is arguing in its lawsuit. The proposed construction of the $1.15-billion Lake Diefenbaker irrigation megaproject, which the government has committed to beginning this year, is also seen as "a very serious threat," Dickson said. Cumberland House has tried to engage with the province on the project, but "there has been very little engagement from the government," Dickson said. Instead, residents have watched as, year after year, the delta degrades. The loss of the delta would be felt not just by the people who live there, but by everyone, said Cumberland House Cree Nation Coun. Beverly Goulet. At the end of Tuesday's news conference, she responded to a question asked earlier by a journalist about how much compensation the community was seeking. "Instead of worrying about money, because we certainly can't take it with us when we pass … remember the children," Goulet said. "That's who we want to protect, because we've done enough damage to this planet. Like, what are they going to have? What have we done? "So, let's all think about that."
CBC
08-05-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Saskatoon riverboat Prairie Lily docked due to low water levels, sandbars
The Prairie Lily river boat has run aground after over a decade of sailing the South Saskatchewan River. On Wednesday, owners of the Saskatoon riverboat said the water level is so low that they can't cruise the ship. "For the first time in our 13 years of sailing this ship, the sandbars have increased to the point where we no longer have a navigation channel," Mike Steckhan, captain and co-owner of the Prairie Lily, said in an interview. The economic impact will be huge for his business, which has stopped bookings and has been cancelling cruises getting into the season. Unless action is taken to increase the water levels, the Prairie Lily will be forced to cancel its season, he said. "There's no place that's deep enough for this ship. It's so low that there isn't a navigation channel for us to do our cruises safely, so we've had to cancel," said Steckhan. Sandbanks form when the silt carried by the river accumulates, and over the last few years, there hasn't been enough water running through to flush them out, he said. He's calling for the Water Security Agency, which controls the flow of water out of the Gardiner Dam, to increase the flow to remove the sandbars. "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," he said. Will release more water if lake levels rise: WSA Water Security Agency president and CEO Shawn Jaques said that as of now, there are no plans to open the spill gates or significantly increase the flow of water out of the Gardiner Dam for now. He said that the current water level of the river flowing through Saskatoon is about 70 cubic centimetres per second (cms), which is equal to the amount of water flowing into Lake Diefenbaker — the reservoir formed by the creation of the Gardiner and Qu'Appelle River dams — from the west. "To put it into perspective, the median or the annual average flow typically is 145 cubic meters per second. So we're sitting at 50 per cent of what we normally would get," Jaques said in an interview. Steckhan said he wants to see 900 cms per second for 72 hours, or 400 cms for a number of days to mitigate the problem. Jaques said there have been dry conditions across Western Canada over the last three years, and the snowpack in the Rocky Mountains is also well below normal right now. "When you have a below normal snowpack, below normal precipitation through the summer months, it has an impact on the amount of water flowing into Lake Diefenbaker, which as a result, you will see less water flowing through by Saskatoon," he said. He said the lake provides 60 per cent of Saskatchewan's population with drinking water, as well as water for potash mines, agricultural uses and ferry crossings to be maintained. "If the lake level gets higher, or we get a large rain event in Alberta or the mountains or something that increases that inflow into Lake Diefenbaker, we will open the spillway gates, and we'll release additional water," Jaques said. Hard 'to not use a bunch of 4-letter words': captain Discover Saskatoon said the Prairie Lily is one of Saskatoon's most iconic experiences, and has helped showcase the riverfront to visitors and locals for over a decade. "It's also a business currently preparing for sale, making this disruption even more significant for its owners and staff," the tourism association said in a statement. It's hopeful that a path forward can be found that allows river-based businesses and users to continue to thrive in Saskatoon, the statement said. But Steckhan said he's frustrated by the situation. "Well, I'm an old sailor, and it's really a lot of hard work right now to not use a bunch of four-letter words. So that's kind of how I feel about it," he said.
