Help Save Stoney Lake

Stoney Lake, also known as Humboldt Lake, has been a recreation destination for the City of Humboldt community-at-large for as long as Humboldt has existed.

In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s Stoney Lake was absolutely clear year around and you could see the lake bottom even in water depths of 10’ deep! Pictures of the lake from that time have no reference to algae on the lake over the summer months.

The water at the Lake at one time was so clean and clear that Stoney Lake was the source of drinking water to the City of Humboldt residents.

Stoney Lake is located less than 5 kms south of the City of Humboldt. That hop, skip and jump from Humboldt to the lake has made the lake a popular center for recreational activities in the summer that included: waterskiing, swimming, boating, sailing, wind surfing, wakeboarding, wake surfing, kite boarding, canoeing, kayaking, paddle boarding and bird watching. Old pictures of the lake show that there was a swimming area that even had a diving board!

Also, in the winter there was no shortage of activities, and one could go skating, skidooing, cross country skiing, snow shoeing and ice fishing. A familiar sight was the small ‘village’ of ice-fishing shacks out on the ice all winter long!

The lake once held numerous events such as ‘Kiddies Days, Potash Pete Derby’s, Water ski tournaments and skidoo racing over the ice during the winter.

While there have been several contributing factors to the ongoing deterioration of the water quality at Stoney Lake, the water quality has undeniably been impacted by the discharge of treated wastewater effluent from the City of Humboldt. The practice of discharging the treated wastewater to Stoney Lake began in 1954, typically in batches 2-3 times per year by means of an open ditch. This practice has continued until today and the effect on the lake has been noticeable for some time and continues to get worse.

Stoney Lake, known as a popular sport fishing destination, where you could catch pike, walleye and yellow perch has struggled to sustain a fish population. As the water quality deteriorated and algae continued to be a problem, the Fish and Wildlife Branch of the Ministry of the Environment regularly stocked the lake with 200,000 walleye fry in 2014, 600,000 walleye fry in 2016 and an additional 300,000 walleye fry in 2019.

This culminated with the fish kill in the spring of 2020, that the Water Security Agency deemed as ‘TOTAL’! That spring, thousands of dead fish were gathered from the water and thrown into shallow trenches with the clean-up supervised by the Fish and Wildlife Branch of government.

The water quality in the lake has deteriorated so severely that the Saskatoon Health Region has determined that the lake is not even suitable for any recreation that involves contact with the water and every year posts a ‘Caution’ sign warning that ‘Toxic Algae May Be Present’ and that the beach ‘May be Unsafe for people and pets’.

Spring 2025 is the 5th year since that devastating event and the water quality information from last year and this spring, provided from the Water Security Agency, continues to confirm that the water quality is not improving; in fact, the readings from this spring are the worst water quality results provided to date.

The City of Humboldt is currently constructing a new Waste Water Treatment Plant that is intended to accommodate the City’s growth to a population of 10,000 and when the new facility is operational this year, it will continue to discharge treated wastewater effluent to Stoney Lake, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. Even though the City of Humboldt will be treating the effluent to the most stringent quality mandated in the province, the lake is saturated and has no capacity for any additional nutrient load from any source and the lake will not have the opportunity to recover.

The Humboldt Area Farmland Irrigation (HAFI) Corporation was founded to be a part of the team that can give Stoney Lake the opportunity to heal! HAFI believes that the first step in the rehabilitation of Stoney Lake is to stop the largest contributor to the source of the damage and give the lake a chance to recover, and so in coordination with the City of Humboldt, the Water Security Agency, and the local farming community, HAFI has developed an irrigation project to do just that.

A feasibility assessment of the project has been developed by HAFI. The design of the system and integration with the City of Humboldt’s new Wastewater Treatment Facility have been considered. Additionally, the location of the farmland has been confirmed and testing of that land completed by the Ministry of Agriculture confirms that the land can support treated effluent irrigation, which is great news!

The Water Security Agency was then approached to participate in the funding of the development of a preliminary design and project budget, to be completed by an independent engineering firm. HAFI managed a Request for Proposal including 4 engineering firms and responses were provided from all four firms. A recommendation was made to the Water Security Agency confirming that this preliminary work carried a cost of $216,372.00.

The Water Security Agency has previously supported irrigation expansion studies, with successful projects reflecting strong commitment from the benefiting stakeholders. To demonstrate local support and strengthen our case for support from the Provincial Government, we are seeking $32,000 in community contributions. This investment will not only partially fund the current study but also position the project for greater success when pursuing additional funding.

The City of Humboldt community-at-large, that includes the Stoney Lake community, has already lost a recreation destination when the Waldsea Lake Regional Park ceased operation. We need to work together to save Stoney Lake! The sunrises and sunsets are exceptional, there are many fascinating birds and animals resident at the lake…life slows down at the lake and more time is spent outside. The lake never closes its’ doors and is always open for our enjoyment.

You can donate to this initiative with a cheque, e-transfer, or through the GoFundMe site.

Cheques can be made out to the Humboldt Area Farmland Irrigation Corporation and mailed to 110 Verbeke Crescent, Saskatoon, SK. S7K 6G5

E-transfers are accepted, if that is your preference, let us know and we will give you the information.

If you have any questions, comments or need any clarifications, don’t hesitate to find out more about this very important first step in the rehabilitation of Stoney Lake!