The NWT government is abandoning another summer barge shipment with Mackenzie River water already at a record low and, if anything, expected to recede further.
On Friday, the territory provided advance notice to community leaders that Fort Good Hope’s barge shipment will be cancelled.
The move is expected to trigger an airlift of extra gasoline. The territory says it will seek “targeted support from the federal government.”
Summer barge resupply shipments are vital to communities along the river, relied upon for everything from months of fuel to construction supplies for major projects. Airlines have been trying to pick up this summer’s slack, but they can’t carry everything and are ordinarily more costly.
While the GNWT’s Marine Transportation Services had already given up on other Sahtu barges because of low water, it had hoped to reach Fort Good Hope by heading south – up the Mackenzie from Tuktoyaktuk – rather than north from Hay River.
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By email, infrastructure minister Caroline Wawzonek told leaders the Canadian Coast Guard had said it would deploy no navigational aids between Great Slave Lake and the Aklavik channel of the Mackenzie River, while GNWT hydrologists are warning “there will be little positive change for water levels” this summer.
Wawzonek said hydrologists are instead worried that water levels may keep receding.
In those circumstances, the minister wrote, MTS “decided that deliveries to Fort Good Hope will be cancelled.”
“The Mackenzie River in this area is unnavigable and conditions are unsafe for marine crews and would risk the integrity of vessels, cargo and fuel,” the email continued.
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The GNWT had been planning to publicly confirm the change on Monday next week.
The territory says Fort Good Hope has enough diesel to last until the winter road season early next year, but is beginning work to arrange an airlift for a “small amount of gasoline.”
“Plans will be made to replenish all other inventories during the 2025 winter road resupply program,” leaders were told.
“We know there will be more questions about who is paying and how the business community will be supported,” Wawzonek’s email concluded.
“We need to identify specific needs to seek targeted support from the federal government to bolster our response and ensure the resilience of our communities and industries.”
