Posted on January 20, 2025
A full dredging and cleanup of the serpentine in Crescent Park is slated to take place in 2026, according to the city’s five-year capital budget.
The budget shows that the Department of Community Services will be looking to spend $250,000 in 2026 for the dredging.
Many of the issues with the serpentine over the past couple of years have been due to water quality and the presence of duckweed and waterweed.
This past summer, the city conducted a hydro-survey of the serpentine.
“We did a hydraulic assessment this past summer and found that the sludge and debris buildup is up to 40 per cent of its original capacity, so we would be gaining 40 per cent in capacity by doing a full dredge,” said Director of Community Services Derek Blais.
Blais added that gaining 40 per cent capacity and deeper water would allow for better water flow and improved water quality.
Additionally, the city is working with University of Regina students doing a capstone project on the serpentine.
“They have been great to work with, have a lot of questions, and we look forward to seeing what they come up with as options to continue improving the water quality there,” Blais said.
Another initiative the city undertook this past summer was the use of biological treatments. The treatments were not implemented until late July, so the city hasn’t seen the full results yet.
Blais said other communities have improved water quality in lagoons and other bodies of water using biological treatments, and he’s hopeful it will work for the serpentine too.
“We’ve got a couple of treatments in this year, and we will continue those treatments in the spring. It’s fairly low-cost and something we were able to do within our operating budget. We’re hoping that by the hot and dry conditions in July, we’ll see noticeable improvement through that program as well,” he explained.
Coun. Dawn Luhning asked about moving the project ahead to 2025 because it has been a long time coming, and councillors have been fielding a lot of questions about the water in Crescent Park.
“It’s a beautiful asset in downtown Moose Jaw, and I think that making sure that asset is maintained sooner rather than later would be a good move on council’s part,” Luhning said.
According to a report to city council in September 2023, there were 84 complaints about Crescent Park since 2019, including nine complaints or requests for service about the serpentine.
Blais said the reason it was not moved forward to 2025 was simply due to funding. He said not only would the dredging cost $250,000, but the city would also have to do pathway repairs the same year as the dredging will damage some of the pathways. The 2026 capital budget shows $190,000 for pathway repairs, but Blais said the project would cost close to $500,000 altogether.
