Does Saskatoon need to rethink its relationship with the river to allow safer swimming?

On any given summer day, the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon attracts plenty of beachgoers.

What many may not knowis that if they decideto go for a swim, they are breaking the law.

It's currently illegal to swim in the river within city limits.

But that's not stopping people.

"It's not dangerous at all. It's not even deep. It's pretty shallow," saidVlad Kutsenko, one of a handful of young people at the beach near Circle Drive North Bridge on Tuesday afternoon.

Kutsenko said he's seen as many as a hundred people gather on this beach when it's hot out. And many of them do go for a swim.

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Mayor Charlie Clark says thefact so many people choose to ignore the "no swimming" signs posted at the beach is just one reasonthe city should rethink its entire relationship with the river.

"We have almost no education for the public about the dangers of the river," Clark said.

"Right now we have a bylaw that says you can't swim in it and we have a view and perception widely in the community that it's dangerous and you should stay away from it. But people are still using it."

Bylaw worth 'looking at,' Clark says

The river can be dangerous. Just last month, a 17-year-old died at a canoe launch just outside city limits.

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Clark said those dangers are all the more reason to do a better job of teaching people about river safety.

Doing so would allow people to learn to enjoy the river safely, he said.

"We need to build up better river awareness, better safety understanding. We need to build up a culture of safety around the river so that people can enjoy it more because I think there is tremendous potential to enjoy it more. It runs right through the middle of our city," Clark said.

What that means in practical terms remains to be seen.

So far, there are no formal requests to revisit the bylaw that bans swimming, even though Clark said "it's worth looking at."

He said other cities located on potentially dangerous bodies of water have robust campaigns and cultures around water safety and Saskatoon should strive for the same.

"If you're in Florida, they have riptides, they have sharks,all these things, but you learn about how to be in the ocean safely. Here, we don't have that educational program and unfortunately we are still seeing people losing their lives, and that's the part that's not working," he said.

Whitewater park proposed

The city is currently exploring one idea that would get a more people in the water. A proposal to build a whitewater park at the Saskatchewan River's weir is still in the works.

Plans to build a hydro power station atthe weir have given new hope to proponents who want to build the whitewater park at the same location.

But Clark said that proposal is not at all final and that any park would have to be accessible to the general public, not just professional or skilled kayakers.

Clark said other ideas like the installation of something like a swimming pool near the water's edge to cut down on the current have been floated over the years.

He said before the city spends any more money on water recreation, the river bank needs to be seriously looked at.

"We are not in a position right now to be spending lots of money on this but I think we need to think carefully about are thereways to make the river more enjoyable for people, and are there some safe ways to do it," he said.