Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with weather changing, the drop of water levels, we are seeing the Merv Hardie Ferry on 24hour notice. It is at least 23 days earlier than the 15-year average. I want to recognize and thank the marine staff. They've done a great job of keeping the ferry operational as long as we can and for doing it in a safe manner. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure. Can the Minister please advise the House how the department is getting the message out to the residents and non-residents that the ferry is going to be shut down earlier than normal? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and we want to take this opportunity to reach out to the greater Northwest Territories to update the general public on the situation that's happening at the Liard ferry. As most people know, this time of year, the rivers drop off sharply. In the case of the Liard River, generally this time of year when it does drop down, it actually comes back up after a couple of days, but that hasn't happened in the last three days. It's actually at its lowest level, and we're probably operating our ferry presently at the lowest level that that ferry has operated; it's at 1.65 meters as of today.
To the Member's point of thanking the marine staff, they've reduced the fuel storage on the boat, and they've gone to lighter loads to offset a premature shutdown of this ferry to help the residents of his riding. We are monitoring this on a daytoday basis, but one thing that has come to light here, in the last 24 hours or so, it looks like the river levels in Watson Lake have actually come up a little bit, so we're going to continue to monitor this. The weather's supposed to actually warm up a little bit in his region, so that's going to help us with that, as well, but we continue to use all our means of getting the message out there. We have our electric board at Enterprise, we have the electric board at the Yellowknife Junction there, to inform Members, we have our Twitter account, we have our webpage, and we have our 1800 number, and, as well, our staff on the ferries who are continually updating the passengers as they cross the river system.
I thank the Minister for that information. Yes, they're operating the ferries at a level that's even unprecedented, so I'd like to thank again the staff there. Because of the water level dropping in the channel, it needs to be dredged. When you sit there and you look at it and you talk to the ferry and you talk to residents, it needs to be dredged. Is the Minister able to advise if the department has looked into the process of dredging this section of the river?
I looked into this matter, and I was informed by the department that 20 years ago we contracted Cooper's Barging with an excavator to have a look at doing this, and it was very unsuccessful and it wasn't able to be done. Another attempt to dredge this channel would need to involve a number of things, now, in light of the new regulatory system that's out there. We would have to do environmental studies on it, approval from multiple organizations, we'd have to go to the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, the DFO, and of course, there's always going to be a funding issue. So, at this point right now, that's where it was on the dredging issue, but, if we were to ever consider this, that's the lay of the land that we'd have to consider.
I thank the Minister for that answer. So, I guess the question is from our riding, and a lot of people use this ferry, so will the department start looking at this option or other options to see it again? Because we're talking 20 years ago, and, with modern technology now and equipment, will the Minister advise this House if the department's looking at that?
There is no feasible option at this time besides dredging, so, if we were to consider this, we'd have to go back and go through all the process that I just laid out in the previous question.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I'd hope they actually would start looking into that and start planning for the future because the water levels keep on dropping and regularly. Yes, we're seeing Watson Lake go up and warming up, but we're still seeing the challenge. With the water levels dropping, and it's occurring on a regular basis, has the department looked at ways to help reduce the cost of living during the ferry shutdown and ice road being built?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We continually communicate with all the residents of the Northwest Territories and residents and businesses with these annual shut-downs of these ferries. We know it's interruptive, and we will continue to communicate with them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
