The effects of the hot, dry summer Nova Scotia has seen this year are clear when you look at many waterways in the province, especially the Gaspereau River.
It’s several feet lower than usual for this time of year, meaning people in the Annapolis Valley haven’t been able to enjoy one of their favourite activities — river tubing.
“It’s been extremely difficult this year because we just simply haven’t had the water to facilitate tubing down the river,” said Chris Gertridge, a promoter with Gaspereau River Tubing.
“It’s something that everyone enjoys, from young to old and you get a lot of new tubers that come down and want to experience this. Once you get them down, they become a life long tuber I guess you could say.”
Nova Scotia Power controls the flow of water along the Gaspereau. The system needs to run 24/7 until June 15 to allow for fish migration. After that, the water level along the Gaspereau River is reduced to increase the flow of water at nearby bodies of water.
That reduced water, combined with hardly any rain this summer, means tubing along the Gaspereau River has been practically non-existent.
“This year, we’ve only been able to tube for about two weeks and that was around the end of May and beginning of June before the river was shut down, so it’s a very small window for people to come out and take a tube down the river,” Gertridge said.
The lack of tubing is taking its toll on many local businesses, like King of the River Tube Rentals.
“It’s been probably the slowest year. We shut down June 15, it was the last day. Its been a hot summer. If we had water, it would be crazy here, we would have had a really rocking summer,” said Joy Power.
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Power says she would typically rent hundreds of tubes every weekend but this year, they sit idle in her yard.
“I don’t think anyone can say that they didn’t feel a loss this summer in the Valley,” Power said.
It’s hoped the water levels in the Gaspereau will be high enough in mid-September for some people to get out and enjoy the river for a few weeks.