SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Yellowknife motorists might be forced to conserve gas since the ferry closure has left tanker trucks stranded on the wrong side of the Mackenzie River.

Jillian Stewart fills up her vehicle at the Co-op Gas Bar on Nov. 23. The Merv Hardie ferry has been out of commission for a week and fuel supplies are running low in Yellowknife. - Aaron Beswick/NNSL photo

As of yesterday, the Mac's, Co-op and Gastown stations were reporting a dwindling supply of fuel.

While employees of the gas stations didn't wish to be quoted, Gastown confirmed it had capped customers at $40 each and supplies wouldn't hold out long. Mac's and Co-op only had premium left and their workers expected to run out of that by yesterday afternoon.

A YK Motors employee, meanwhile, wouldn't comment on its reserves other than to say they are "fine." A Monkey Tree gas bar employee said its station "probably" has fuel for a few days.

Home heating and aviation fuel distributors contacted by the Yellowknifer reported adequate fuel reserves to survive an extended ferry delay.

And it'll be at least a few days until transport trucks carrying fuel roll into the city.

Traffic won't be crossing the Mackenzie River at Fort Providence until at least the end of this week, possibly longer.

"It depends on water levels and ice conditions," said Earl Blacklock, spokesperson for the Department of Transportation.

The Merv Hardie ferry requires water levels of at least 150 metres above sea level to cross. A sudden drop in temperatures early last week caused the Mackenzie River to freeze to the bottom, choking water draining into the river from Great Slave Lake and shutting down the ferry as of the afternoon of Nov. 17. Water levels kept dropping until they reached a low of 149.28 metres above sea level at around 6 p.m. on Sunday. By Monday, the water was climbing again and had reached 149.36 metres above sea level.

Blacklock said if the current rate of climb is maintained, the ferry should be open by the end of the week. That is, "if the ice doesn't move closer to the bridge," cautioned Blacklock.

The Mackenzie River is frozen over both up and down stream from the kilometre-long ferry crossing, which runs next to the partially completed Deh Cho Bridge. If the ice spreads to cover the Merv Hardie's channel, a backhoe will be loaded onto the ferry to clear a path with its bucket.

"If that happens, we can expect three to four days from the time we start to have icing over until the ferry is able to make a regular crossing," said Blacklock.

That could push the ferry closure into next week.

The last time Ben Walker remembers this long of a ferry delay on the Mackenzie River crossing was in 1998.

"This is an abnormal happening," said the Co-op general manager. "There are some things you just can't predict."

While there are tank farms in Yellowknife for diesel, home heating and aviation fuel, there aren't large reserves for gasoline. The Co-op had planned to keep an extra transport truck of gasoline on site as of Dec. 1 to prepare for freeze-up, when the Merv Hardie ferry is replaced by an ice road. As for groceries, Walker said they've been flying those in for a week at a greatly increased cost.

The Mackenzie River crossing is the chokepoint along Yellowknife's main supply artery. In recent days shoppers have seen the produce sections of area grocery stores growing bare.

"You see it most in the fresh produce section. They're not out, but it looks like they're scraping the bottom of the barrel," said Leslie Bromley, owner of the Gourmet Cup Beverage Station in the YK Centre mall. "I have to buy milk daily and fresh produce for my business and the ferry delay is a cause for concern."

On Monday Blair Turner was pushing his shopping cart into the Old Airport Road Extra Foods.

"For breakup and freezeup, I keep the freezer stocked up, but this was unexpected," he said. "When I heard about the ferry shutdown I didn't run right out in a panic, but I am stocking up."

The GNWT, meanwhile, is seeking to reassure residents of the North Slave region that home heating fuel, diesel and gasoline reserves are well stocked. In a press release, the government stated that a sudden rush by people to fill up their vehicles and oil tanks could be counter-productive – creating brief fuel shortages.

"I keep all my tanks bulked for situations like this," said Sheldon Olson, general manager of aviation fuel supplier Diamond Aviation. "I figure I could survive a month without any fuel coming in."

When the ferry resumes operation, priority will be given to trucks carrying fuel, food and other dwindling commodities until the backlog is eased.

In the meantime, Leslie Bromley's 13 years as a small business owner in Yellowknife have fostered a stoic outlook on ferry delays.

"Life goes on, you deal with it."

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