This will be Joan and Mike Steckhan’s last year of cruising the South Saskatchewan River aboard the Prairie Lily: they have decided to retire. This season, however, has given them the bumpiest ride, business-wise, since they took over the riverboat in 2012. Intending to set sail in early May, they realized immediately that it would be impossible to navigate the river’s channel due to high levels of sand and silt. Captain Mike saw it coming in 2022. “Since 2020, every year the channels were getting narrower, the water was getting shallower, the sand and silt kept building up,” he said in an interview. He had been able to find water that barely allowed them to operate, but it was tricky.

“It’s a lot of work for a captain to drive a 100-tonne ship through a channel that’s not much wider than the boat itself.” Matters worsened in 2022-2023, and finally, last year, the Steckhans took the Water Security Agency’s (WSA) CEO and vice-president of science and leasing for a cruise. “I pointed out all the issues and what was happening, and what was going to happen,” Mike said. “I remember saying, if you don’t give us a flush . . . eventually this river is going to close.”

And, for the Prairie Lily, it did. The Steckhans were forced to cancel upcoming booked cruises. They own a separate company that runs work boats, largely for underwater inspection purposes such as for piers. Mike threw one of these in the water and understood right away that the river was unnavigable. “My heart fell into my stomach, really. I kind of expected it. But at that point I realized, that’s it. We’re done,” Mike said. He explained that navigable river channels fill with sand and silt if not occasionally flushed out, either by normal flows or dam-released water. “This is once in living memory for us – there hasn’t been (a water flush) since 2020.” They contacted the WSA and asked for a three-day flush of 900 cubic metres per second (cms) via a Gardiner Dam release for three days, but the WSA said no. While the Steckhans understand that Lake Diefenbaker is important for many purposes, the lake is hardly dry. In fact, it stands at fairly high levels post-runoff, they noted. “It’s not just us,” he added. “You have to look all the way to Cumberland House,” where water levels are affecting fishing, closing tributaries and causing other problems.

In Saskatoon, even small boats and personal watercraft will find river use difficult. Concerns have also been raised about the fire department’s launch and its ability to reach anyone in trouble on the river. “In some places the water is only an inch or two deep. In some places a foot or two,” Mike said. “It affects the whole valley, all the way down.” The WSA released a statement saying that 900 cms in three days “is the equivalent of using 47 per cent of all water consumed by users (environmental, municipal, agricultural, industrial) out of Lake Diefenbaker in one year.” It added that a release would bring only a short-term shifting of sandbars downstream and river level improvement would be temporary. It also said there would be risks to municipal water intakes, fish and wildlife habitat, ferry operations and recreational safety along the river and additional erosion. It also pointed to the mountain snowpack, which supplies 80 per cent of water to the river, being well below normal. The WSA said its CEO spoke to Saskatoon Fire and Police, which did not “indicate” concerns around water levels.

The situation led the Steckhans to regroup as of mid-May. Instead of offering cruises, they started planning dinners and brunches aboard the Lily. “We plan to continue as long as we are unable to sail,” said Joan, chief financial officer of the company and also known as the ship’s purser. “We made a commitment to our staff that we want to keep them, and the only way to keep them is to pay them, so this helps defray some of that cost and keeps the ship alive. “And we still have the most beautiful venue in town.” “There’s nothing so expensive as a ship that doesn’t turn its propellers, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s an aircraft carrier or a riverboat,” said Mike, who served in the Canadian Navy. “It’s costing us gobs of money just to keep the ship.” “At best this will cover our costs,” Joan added. “We do need to do something to try and mitigate some of our losses.”

Reservations are required because meals on the Lily are catered. The Steckhans decided to offer dinners on Fridays and Saturdays and brunches Saturday and Sundays at first, at the usual prices minus crew fees. “We can’t leave the dock but have a beautiful venue, great staff, and a beautiful ship. You’re not going to get a better view. “We’re just sort of taking it one week at a time at this point.” At press time, the Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce had weighed in by sending an urgent letter to Daryl Harrison, Minister Responsible for the WSA, and Alana Ross, Minister Responsible for Tourism, calling the Prairie Lily a “Saskatoon icon.” The Chamber also noted that barges used for the Nutrien Fireworks Festival and Canada Day will not be deployable. Updates on Prairie Lily offerings can be found at https://theprairielily. com/wp. Also, say the Steckhans, there has been interest in taking over the Prairie Lily, but at press time, the boat was still for sale.

– Joanne Paulson