(Photo: Nayan Sthankiya), The flow of the South Saskatchewan has dropped 12 percent in the last century, raising concerns that not enough is being done to protect the water source. The South Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada that flows through the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.. For the first half of the 20th century, the South Saskatchewan would completely freeze over during winter, creating spectacular ice breaks and dangerous conditions in Saskatoon, Medicine Hat and elsewhere. David Thompson was the first European explorer to travel the extent of the South Saskatchewan and up the Bow River, a major headwater tributary. The South Saskatchewan has been compared to the Colorado, another Rocky Mountains-born river bringing wealth to dry country. Meanwhile, says Lamb, we still have glaring gaps in our most basic knowledge. Meanwhile, the whole gamut of processes by which water moves from the air to the ground and back is being studied at Marmot Creek, and similar work is being done at nine other research sites from Idaho to the High Arctic. The river basin was home to a large population of bison until European settlement — which included the introduction of rifles and, eventually, railways — brought the bison population to near extinction. (Photo: Nayan Sthankiya). In silence, we bump along the uneven pavement of a little-used secondary highway, watching the west turn almost to desert. Disclaimer. This multifaceted adventure on the South Saskatchewan River packs a lot into one day. Much of the eastern Canadian Rockies is under park protection, but reducing fire suppression — or the relentless march of the pine beetle — could have a similar effect. The South Saskatchewan River flows through an agriculturally productive region and is prone to periodic droughts and floods. The native prairie consists of grasses, including spear grass and wheat grass; however, much of the native grassland has been converted for agriculture. The dams and reservoirs are used for irrigation and hydroelectricity generation. The largest historic jump — Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump — is in the Oldman River basin, a headwater tributary river to the South Saskatchewan. European exploration and settlement also brought diseases that decimated First Nations populations, including smallpox outbreaks in 1780, 1838, 1856 and 1869. Hawks ride thermals over the baking prickly pear cactus on the south-facing banks. And there is the muddy, green, cool, reliable South Saskatchewan River. “This whole valley is a research facility, but we travel at the pleasure of the ski resort,” says Pomeroy when we find the main gate locked. Halliday hazards a guess that the Saskatchewan River may be the largest inter-jurisdictional basin in the world without one. Endangered piping plovers are drawn to nest on the artificially wide sandy beaches but must cope with “managed” water that typically rises six metres. Other cities are graced by the river, but nowhere else are urbanites so inordinately proud of it. The South Saskatchewan River basin, originates in mixed grasslands at the confluence of the Bow and Oldman rivers. Hydrology is the science of how water moves over the land, and this place, Pomeroy assures me, “is where the action is.”. Signing up enhances your TCE experience with the ability to save items to your personal reading list, and access the interactive map. After 150 years of settlement in the mercurial west, we cannot answer the one question most basic to our livelihood: will there always be enough water? Both arms of the river, indeed, are born as streams from the ice cap, which supplies five to seven percent of the total flow. My sailing pal Mark and I silently scan the treeless, cactus-sage hills ahead, home to bull snake and burrowing owl. To be fair, such jurisdictional fragmentation is the main obstacle to sustainable ecosystem management gen - erally, not just with the South Saskatchewan River. Humans currently withdraw about 50 percent of the total South Saskatchewan flow. While it is comforting to have the best and brightest in our midst, even scientists recognize that science alone cannot protect natural systems. Saskatchewan has been Canada’s central prairie province since 1905. The concrete towers that hold turbines for the Gardiner Dam are seen here with Lake Diefenbaker in the background. Fisera Ridge is exposed to the full blast of high-mountain weather, and a battery of sensing equipment is in place to record the action. “There’s no way we can double that. Like the imperilled polar bear, retreating Rockies glaciers have become emblematic of human-induced climate change. One solution is a central management authority. In the rear-view mirror, the boat on its trailer tugs to and fro like a worried pony being led into danger. “We are taking a third of the river for irrigation already,” he says. Figure 1-1 view of Maple Ave. Bridge RESULTS OF LONG-TERM TREND ANALYSES FOR MEDIAN MONTHLY FLOW IN THE UPPER-SOUTH SASKATCHEWAN RIVER SUB-BASIN. Despite its vital importance to the three million people living on the parched western plain, the hydrology of these small valleys is virtually unstudied. Yet the great prairie river gets more than 90 percent of its flow not from the ancient ice but from snow and rain gathered in humble valleys like this. They heat up in the sun and melt snow wells around their trunks, and their roots create more pathways for water to travel underground. 8, Saskatchewan, T1A 0A8, Canada ( 50.89652 -108.47683 ) South Circle Drive Bridge is a bridge proposed to open 2012 completing Circle Drive around Saskatoon. In 1967, the province finished two dams to trap the river for electrical power and to slake the municipal thirst of Regina and points south. The water would become warm, covered with algae. “Is taking half the water really a good thing?” wonders Halliday. The RCGS acknowledges that its offices are located on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Peoples, who have been guardians of, and in relationship with, these lands for thousands of years. Read: 12 Fun & Unique Places to Visit in Saskatchewan. Some 65 faculty positions are linked with water science and, arguably, the best collection of water-research facilities in the land. Pomeroy is using the trickle of data off this mountain to drive new mathematical models that can predict the two most potent economic forces in Palliser’s west: river flow and drought. The river is fed by the Bow and Oldman Rivers in southern Alberta and gets 95 percent of its flow from mountain snow and rain. We cannot have both anymore.” As for the muddy Saskatchewan, Pomeroy echoes a theme: we three million prairie folk are luckier than the roughly 30 million in the Colorado River Basin and face nothing like the hardship of the 2.1 billion who depend on Himalayan rivers. Swimming, golf and affordable cottaging are perks afforded by the impounded water. Saskatoon has become a vibrant, young city full of great places and food. The South Saskatchewan River and the Development of Early Saskatoon 1881 – 1908 prepared by William P. Delainey was created for the City of Saskatoon’s Cultural Capital of Canada Program within the Public Art Project. “We also like to have our water essentially free of charge, or close to it. “How do we collect, collate and assess watershed data on meaningful scales?” Dubé is developing a solution called THREATS (The Healthy River Ecosystem Assessment System), a software tool that, when finished, anyone will be able to use to quickly assess environmental impacts. “We must start thinking of this river as a whole system, not in terms of political boundaries, if we are going to manage it sustainably.” The Partners organization tries to do just that, bringing together government water agencies from the three prairie provinces, special-interest groups such as Ducks Unlimited Canada and individual citizens from across the west. Maybe we can someday reach a promised land called integrated water-resources management in the South Saskatchewan. The South Saskatchewan River begins in a prairie grassland environment, although its tributaries, the Bow and Oldman rivers, flow from Rocky Mountains headwaters through foothill forests to the prairie. In the widest part of the reservoir, deep-keel yachts sail out of the farming-turned-marina town of Elbow. 9 Facts About North Saskatchewan River. “The idea that shrinking glaciers are causing the river to dry up is a misconception,” says Pomeroy, who directs the University of Saskatchewan Centre for Hydrology, holds a Canada Research Chair in Water Resources and Climate Change and leads the research here in the Marmot Creek Basin. Since the future of the river is, in the broadest sense, a supply-demand equation, I set off to the university’s department of economics to find Joel Bruneau, co-editor of a comprehensive technical report called “Climate Change and Water Resources in the South Saskatchewan River Basin.” The ponytailed professor does his part to avert a hotter, drier future climate by getting around Saskatoon by bicycle year-round. The real task is in integrating thousands of existing studies, shaping them into a clear action plan. There are nearly 12,000 licensed users of river water and 80 percent of the water allocated under these licences is withdrawn in Alberta’s sprawling irrigation districts. “We know virtually nothing about actual use or consumption of water,” she says. We pass a well-known fish farm using the cold mountain runoff to raise the steelhead salmon often sold as “Lake Diefenbaker trout” on better restaurant menus in Saskatoon and Regina. Started in 2006 to help celebrate Saskatoon’s city centennial, the trip included local historians relating stories of history associated with the river in the vicinity of Saskatoon. There is no means to coordinate them. Its unique name (originally used for a district of the Northwest Territories in 1882), comes from an English version of a Cree word, kisiskâciwanisîpiy which means “swiftly flowing river”. Surely our actual water use is too widely discussed, too vital a statistic here in Palliser country, to be an unknown. American federal agencies are heavy funders of environmental monitoring. Lake Winnipeg infamously fell between the government administrative cracks for 30 years until a band of citizens joined forces to rescue it (see “Forgotten lake,” Nov/Dec 2006). Users typically meter their intake pipes, but the standards for reporting are lax, and withdrawal numbers alone cannot tell us actual water use. Mean flow is 280 m3/s, but varies throughout the year, largely controlled by several dams and reservoirs along the river system. Mammals in the basin include black bear, elk, moose, mule deer, white-tailed deer, bison, beaver, muskrat, porcupine and a number of smaller mammals, and birds include several species of hawk, grouse, goose and owl, plus trumpeter swan, osprey and American white pelican. In 1690–92, Henry Kelsey became the first European to reach the South Saskatchewan River, aided by First Nations guides. "South Saskatchewan River". Introduction to Saskatchewan. Kelsey paddled the upper South Saskatchewan, then travelled overland within the basin. The river valley is dominated by cottonwood trees and shrubs, and increasingly home to invasive species, including bladder campion, leafy spurge, scentless chamomile, Canada thistle and perennial sow thistle. That, says Pomeroy, requires far more monitoring than we currently deploy, especially in these mountain basins that are the lifeblood of the prairie river. In May, the university bought full-page newspaper ads to trumpet the arrival of sustainable-water luminary Howard Wheater, late of Imperial College London, and $30 million in funding for a new water-security institute. Bruneau doubts new irrigation projects would make economic sense now, if they ever did, but he dismisses the idea on more fundamental grounds. After three sweaty hours, the view across the Kananaskis valley opens up and the stainless steel glint of scientific equipment can be seen in the stunted larch and fir ahead. The Saskatoon station is not far from Halliday’s house, just upstream from the weir in a little brick building. It seems utterly the wrong landscape for a holiday afloat. (Photo: Nayan Sthankiya), The South Saskatchewan provides water for irrigation in Alberta and Saskatchewan. While that looming threat could have grave consequences for the river in the not too distant future, we have hardly begun to understand the river of the present, let alone manage it. The sub-basin comprises the river reach of the South Saskatchewan River and its associated drainage area. Our team will be reviewing your submission and get back to you with any further questions. Mark and I launch our flat-bottom sailboat at Saskatchewan Landing, a historic ford that is now a provincial park. But they get the bulk of their precious water from snowfall collected in a thousand little foothills valleys like this along the eastern Rocky Mountains. Federal, provincial and municipal governments have spun a tangled web of legislation and programs to manage the river for a thousand uses: safe drinking, powerboat racing, industrial development, bird habitat, to name a few. While summer-starved Canadians are making potato salad and twisting beer caps, I am standing at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, preparing to climb back into winter. jim pattison children's hospital under construction in saskatoon - south saskatchewan river stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images. The South Saskatchewan River flows through an arid, but agriculturally productive and urbanized region of the Canadian prairies, and is subject to numerous environmental stressors that affect water quality and quantity. Like the Colorado, the South Saskatchewan is much diminished by humans. “Nobody told the river there are borders,” says Lamb from her glass-walled riverbank office. (Photo: Nayan Sthankiya), The Great Sand Hills — 1,900 square kilometres of desert in southwestern Saskatchewan — are moving closer toward the river’s shore. Newton, B., South Saskatchewan River (2017). Around Riverhurst, the sandy, flat banks resemble those of the Nile seen from a felucca, minus the pyramids. In fact, irrigation is still expanding. Sixty-five percent of Canada’s irrigated farm acreage is in southern Alberta, and by interprovincial agreement, the province is allowed to consume up to half of the river flow. Upstream of Banff, only one stream is gauged. Interesting facts about Saskatchewan – you can float in Little Manitou Lake because of its saltiness. Indeed, Pomeroy notes that thinning and partial clearing can theoretically double available runoff, and these techniques are used in the Upper Colorado River Basin to increase river flow. When it comes to water, getting the big picture is never easy. Huge collection, amazing choice, 100+ million high quality, affordable RF and RM images. The kids are there for the same reason I am, perhaps, to see whether someone is minding the store. … The truth can simply vanish in the details. Nonetheless, our own South Saskatchewan River is all spoken for and then some. “We never rationalized this work on the basis of climate change,” says Pomeroy. The drought of 1999-2004, the most expensive natural disaster in Canadian history, reduced the GDP by nearly $6 billion. We are bound for a station on Fisera Ridge at 2,318 metres, under the grey gaze of Mount Allan. Users should use the information on this website with caution and do so at their own risk. Snowfall, rain, wind, solar radiation, snow reflectivity and snow depth are all measured. “In Canada, we like to have our ecosystems as intact as possible, which is a good thing,” says Pomeroy. The Gardiner Dam traps the river for electrical power and the water pools to form Lake Diefenbaker, a destination for swimmers, boaters and cottagers. It flows in the very cells of our children. Saskatchewan River, largest river system of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, rising in the Canadian Rockies of western Alberta in two great headstreams, the North and South Saskatchewan rivers (800 miles [1,287 km] and 865 miles [1,392 km] long, respectively); these cross the Saskatchewan provincial boundary 200 miles (320 km) apart and unite east of Prince Albert. Yet record rains this year have caused floods and widespread crop damage. We put together a story map to bring attention to Flowering Rush as well as our survey and eradication project. FactSnippet No. (Photo: Nayan Sthankiya), Saskatoon, also known as the City of Bridges, is home to Partners FOR the Saskatchewan River Basin and residents value the river as a central part of their daily lives. Psychologically, it is fitting that this province chose to build great dams, to literally hold on to our precious share of water in a region defined by a lack of it. The answer, he says, is too important to leave to governments. And then we seem to find ourselves in a regatta off the California coast. Südlicher Saskatchewan-Fluss) ist ein Fluss im Westen Kanadas mit einer Gesamtlänge von 886 km. Hydrologist John Pomeroy, his assistant May Guan and I zip gaiters over our boot tops, strap snowshoes onto our rucksacks and begin to climb the Marmot Creek Basin in the Kananaskis foothills west of Calgary. Weather and hydrological data have been collected here more or less continuously since 1962, though the unbroken record owes more to luck and the dedication of field scientists than to concerted will by the powers that be. The South Saskatchewan River basin includes the traditional territory of the Assiniboine, Cree and Ojibwa near the river’s confluence with the North Saskatchewan, the Blackfoot Confederacy to the west, and the Métis throughout. Snow caught in tree branches is exposed to more sun and wind and tends to vaporize into the atmosphere via sublimation. Amid such climatic uncertainty, perhaps the real threats to the South Saskatchewan are not drought or flood, but ignorance and confusion. TABLE. Many people mistakenly believe that the South Saskatchewan waters come only from melting glaciers. We don’t have a single snout of a glacier monitored.” Lack of data, he says, impedes our ability to make even basic weather predictions, let alone make forecasts for avalanches, flood, irrigation water supply, forest fires or drought. When the reckoning comes, it will surely come first to our dryland river. With human-driven climate change expected to hit hard in Palliser’s drought-prone west, we here are taking stock of the one natural resource on which our whole economic future rests. south saskatchewan river in downtown saskatoon with riverboat - south saskatchewan river stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images. North Saskatchewan River is home to the first debit card transaction in Canada. Check out these 25 fun, weird and interesting facts about Saskatoon to get a sense of the city. Such valleys serve as stone cisterns, where winter’s snows are caught and stored up until spring melt. It is an imposing, dramatic presence in an otherwise demure landscape. Mark’s keen eye spots whitetail deer and pronghorn antelope foraging on the bluffs. The Water Security Agency and the Government of Saskatchewan accepts no liability for the accuracy, availability, suitability, reliability, usability, completeness or timeliness of the data or graphical depictions rendered from the data. Trees are the real smoking gun in this whodunit. [21] [22] The city of Medicine Hat hosted a public meeting proposing a Sanitary Sewer and Water Pipeline which is intended to cross the South Saskatchewan River. The true danger is hard to know. Streamflow is regulated by numerous dams and reservoirs in the river basin, one of which, the Gardiner Dam, is on the South Saskatchewan River itself. This report will provide recommendations for recreation and leisure within the river valley and act as a guideline to enhance the use of and connectivity to the South Saskatchewan River. Some water is taken up by growing plants, some evaporates or is lost from leaking canals, and much simply flows back to the river. We cross and recross the river, often many times a day in the “City of Bridges,” and delight in the elegant view. The cooler shore opposite harbours hawthorn and buffalo berry, ash and cottonwood. Pomeroy, who once worked on the troubled Colorado River, says U.S. government agencies have learned that scrimping on data is false economy. Like many, he believes a whole-basin management authority is the only path to saving the river for the future. In Saskatchewan, we may envy Alberta’s canals, but by far the most visible exploitation of the river is our own. I pray it will not have met that tappedout river’s sad fate by the time my son is an old man. Thinking about the river as a whole system is one thing; actually managing it that way is still a far-off dream. At night, we camp ashore like cowboys and make fires from driftwood. (Photo: Nayan Sthankiya), The South Saskatchewan River is an aquatic playground for the province’s people. The physical data collected there are used to build better mathematical models of both hydrology and climate. As the west developed, Medicine Hat became instrumental with the development of the first hospital past Winnipeg in 1889 and as a CPR divisional point. Bison jumps and pounds were common for large communal hunts performed between tribes. Find the perfect south saskatchewan river stock photo. The North and South Saskatchewan follow a roughly parallel path until the South Saskatchewan passes through Medicine Hat, Alberta, where it shifts northeast until it reaches the North Saskatchewan, just east of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Despite our low regional population in the west, we manage to consume about one-third of its flow, which has dropped naturally by 12 percent in the last century. The South Saskatchewan River is formed by the junction of the Bow and Oldman rivers, the headwaters of which are in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Qu’Appelle River, tributary of the Assiniboine River, in southern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba, Canada.From its source near The Elbow (a bend in the South Saskatchewan River) and Lake Diefenbaker, northwest of Moose Jaw, Sask., the river flows eastward for 270 miles (430 km) through several lakes and First Nations (Indian) reservations before joining the Assiniboine opposite …
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