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Dozens of emergency crew members were out for an operation at the Saskatoon weir Thursday afternoon, as the search for the missing jet ski rider continues.
On Saturday, 32-year-old Adan Vargas Salvador went over the weir and under the water while riding a jet ski on the South Saskatchewan River. The jet ski was recovered, but Salvador has yet to be found.
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On Thursday morning, though, the Saskatoon Fire Department got a call about something in the wash at the weir.
Consequently, the lower viewing platform facing out onto the fast-flowing area of the river was shut down to the public by police, as emergency crews looked out at the weir towards a few pieces of churning black and white debris.
Emergency crews looked out onto the weir, as black and white debris churned in the water. (Marija Robinson/650 CKOM)
Some responders were using binoculars, while a drone hovered over the debris for minutes at a time.
Onlookers gathered on the upper viewing platform closest to Spadina Crescent East to watch the operation.
Around 12:40 p.m. two water rescue members went out onto the river, close to the sandbar, in an inflatable rescue boat.
Using their paddles, the two went over the weir and picked the churning debris up out of the water.
After getting the debris, another water rescue boat pulled the inflatable watercraft out of the weir. (Marija Robinson/650 CKOM)
One of the rescuers then threw a line out to another rescue boat just downstream, which pulled the inflatable out of the weir.
On Thursday afternoon there was still no update on whether the debris collected has anything to do with Salvador’s disappearance.
According to an email from the City of Saskatoon, the afternoon search was “inconclusive.”
The usual string of buoys crossing the river weren’t there on the day Salvador went over the weir because of damage that happened earlier this month. By Wednesday, though, the city had the repaired buoys put back. (Marija Robinson/650 CKOM)
Buoys back in the riverbank
Usually, there’s a string of buoys crossing the river downstream of the University Bridge, but on the day Salvador went over the weir, those buoys weren’t there.
That’s because earlier this month, the Water Security Agency opened the spillway at the Gardiner Dam. It had been closed since 2020 due to dry conditions, but recent rainfall and an above-normal snow pack meant there was plenty of water.
This release caused the river around Saskatoon to start flowing at around 296 cubic metres per second. Normally, it’s almost half that speed at 160 cubic metres per second.
The rush of water damaged the buoys and they had to be taken out.
By Wednesday, that string of orange floats was back in the river, installed by the Saskatoon Rowing Club.
The city continues to warn people to stay off the river, “because of elevated and dangerous flow rates.”
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