'Political hot potato': residents of Hay River, N.W.T., urge dredging in key waterway

Aaron Campbell and his brother were boating from Yellowknife to Hay River, N.W.T., earlier this fall when they got stuck on a sandbar in the shallow waters of Great Slave Lake near the mouth of the Hay River.

The two men spent the night on their boat and Campbell said when rescuers tried to drag them off the sandbar, their ropes kept breaking. They were freed the next day by a tug.

"That was pretty intense," Campbell said. "It was quite the day."

He isn't the only one who has got stuck in the Hay River port in recent months.

The Canadian Coast Guard ship Dumit was removing fairway buoys at the end of the shipping season on Oct. 15, when it became lodged on a sandbar. Cargo from the ship had to be off-loaded onto another one while the tug helped to free the Dumit the following evening. Two barges also became stuck in August and had to be towed back to shore.

Calls have been intensifying to dredge the river's channels leading into Great Slave Lake to remove built-up sediment and deepen the waterway. It's a particular problem in the east channel, where shipping companies and most fishers enter and exit the port.

Residents, fishers and politicians say if it's not completed, it could have wide-reaching effects on the fishing industry, marine transport and flooding.

"If we do not address the problem, it will affect every business, every homeowner, every aspect of life in Hay River," said Jane Groenewegen, who represented Hay River South in the territorial legislature from 1999 to 2015.

Hay River has the one of the largest inland ports in Canada.

Groenewegen said marine transport and related industries are its "backbone."

The port is crucial for fishers and Canadian Coast Guard operations, as well as being home to a Fisheries and Oceans Canada office. It also connects roads and railways from the south to resupply barges that travel to coastal locations along the Mackenzie River and in the western Arctic.

Campbell, who is Yellowknives Dene and lives in Hay River, is looking to enter the territory's fishing industry. He said he's concerned about what could happen when he returns to shore with his boat heavy with fish if water levels remain low.

"I'm definitely for dredging," he said.

Jamie Linington, with the N.W.T. Fisherman's Federation and Freshwater Fish Harvesters Association Inc., said the low water level is a safety issue, as it worsens waves when boats are coming in and bottoming out could damage boats and affect fishers' livelihoods.