Buffalo Pound Lake - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Buffalo Pound Lake is a eutrophic prairie lake

Prairie lake

A prairie lake is a somewhat shallow lake that will empty naturally during dry periods allowing a variety of land plants to flourish in the rich nutrients on the lake bottom. The lakes eventually fill up with water returning to their previous state. In northern Florida, a Flatwoods/Prairie Lake is...

in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, Canada, formed from glaciation about 10,000 years ago, on the Qu'Appelle River

Qu'Appelle River

The Qu'Appelle River is a Canadian river that flows 430 km east from Lake Diefenbaker in southwestern Saskatchewan to join the Assiniboine River in Manitoba, just south of Lake of the Prairies, near the village of St. Lazare....

approximately 28 km north of Moose Jaw

Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

Moose Jaw is a city in south-central Saskatchewan, Canada on the Moose Jaw River. It is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians. It is best known as a retirement and tourist city that serves as a hub to the hundreds of small towns...

, 11 km east of Tuxford

Tuxford, Saskatchewan

Tuxford is a community in Saskatchewan. Moose Jaw is 14 km south and Buffalo Pound Lake is 16 km north. Highway 2, Highway 42 and Highway 202 all intersect in the community. Highway 202 connects the community to Buffalo Pound Provincial Park 11 km east...

and 3 km north of Sun Valley

Sun Valley, Saskatchewan

Sun Valley is a community in Saskatchewan, Canada....

. The lake gets its name from the method used by First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

people to capture the bison

Bison

Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...

using the natural topography as corral

Corral

Corral is a town, commune and sea port in Los Ríos Region, Chile. It is located south of Corral Bay. Corral is best known for the forts of Corral Bay, a system of defensive batteries and forts made to protect Valdivia during colonial times. Corral was the headquarters of the system...

s or buffalo pound

Buffalo pound

The buffalo pound was a hunting device constructed by native peoples of the North American plains for the purpose of entrapping and slaughtering American Bison, also known as buffalo. It consisted of a circular corral at the terminus of a flared chute through which buffalo were herded and thereby...

s. Bison once numbered more than 60 million, by 1800 they were all but extinct due to settlent. Bison were reintroduced into the area in 1972. The Qu'Appelle River was dammed by the Buffalo Pound Dam in 1939 to control fluctuating water levels. The dam is an embankment dam

Embankment dam

An embankment dam is a massive artificial water barrier. It is typically created by the emplacement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil, sand, clay and/or rock. It has a semi-permanent waterproof natural covering for its surface, and a dense, waterproof...

approximately 1400 metres long.

A fish ladder

Fish ladder

A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass or fish steps, is a structure on or around artificial barriers to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration. Most fishways enable fish to pass around the barriers by swimming and leaping up a series of relatively low steps into the waters on...

installed in 1999-2000 allows fish to migrate in and out of the lake and new gates were installed to create a better water supply downstream. The height of the dam was also raised 1 metre. The problem with fluctuating water levels wasn't solved all together until the construction of the Qu'Appelle River Dam

Qu'Appelle River Dam

The Qu'appelle River Dam is the smaller of two embankment dams: which created Lake Diefenbaker in Saskatchewan, Canada. The larger dam is Gardiner Dam, the biggest embankment dam in Canada and one of the biggest in the world. Construction of both dams began in the 1959 and was completed in 1967...

and Gardiner Dam

Gardiner Dam

The Gardiner Dam on the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatchewan is the largest embankment dam in Canada and one of the largest embankment dams in the world...

that created Lake Diefenbaker

Lake Diefenbaker

Lake Diefenbaker is a reservoir in Southern Saskatchewan, Canada. It was formed by the construction of Gardiner Dam and the Qu'Appelle River Dam across the South Saskatchewan and Qu'Appelle Rivers respectively. Construction began in 1959 and the lake was filled in 1967. The lake is long with...

100 km upstream in 1967. As a result water flow in the Qu'Appelle River now remains relatively constant. This however has flushed the lake out and allowed excessive algae

Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...

growth due to the cleaner water which reduced the popularity of swimming and boating during the summer months, raised the cost of water treatment

Water treatment

Water treatment describes those processes used to make water more acceptable for a desired end-use. These can include use as drinking water, industrial processes, medical and many other uses. The goal of all water treatment process is to remove existing contaminants in the water, or reduce the...

and the lake still remains eutrophic, due to low oxygen

Oxygen

Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...

levels and highly nutritious soil on the lakes bottom.

The lake provides drinking water for the cities of Regina

Regina, Saskatchewan

Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...

, Moose Jaw

Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

and the Kalium Chemicals Potash Mine at Belle Plaine

Belle Plaine, Saskatchewan

-See also:*Highway 642*Highway 1*Qu'Appelle River Dam*Saskferco-External links:*********...

, approximately 25% of the province's population. It is also used for recreational purposes such as camping, boating and fishing and is home to a host of fish species including walleye

Walleye

Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...

, sauger

Sauger

The sauger is a freshwater perciform fish of the family Percidae which resembles its close relative the walleye. They are members of the largest vertebrate order, Perciforms. They are the most migratory percid species in North America. Saugers obtain two dorsal fins, the first is spiny and the...

, yellow perch

Yellow perch

The yellow perch is a species of perch found in the United States and Canada, where it is often referred to by the shortform perch. Yellow perch look similar to the European perch, but are paler and more yellowish, with less red in the fins. They have six to eight dark, vertical bars on their sides...

, northern pike

Northern Pike

The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...

, cisco

Cisco (fish)

The ciscoes are salmonid fish of the genus Coregonus that differ from other members of the genus in having upper and lower jaws of approximately equal length and high gillraker counts...

, mooneye

Mooneye

The mooneyes are a family, the Hiodontidae, of primitive ray-finned fish comprising two living and three extinct species in the genus Hiodon. They are large-eyed, fork-tailed fish that physically resemble shads. Their common name comes from the metallic gold or silver shine of their eyes.The higher...

, lake whitefish

Lake whitefish

The lake whitefish , also called the Sault whitefish or gizzard fish, is a species of freshwater whitefish from North America. Lake whitefish are found throughout much of Canada and parts of the northern United States, including all of the Great Lakes. A valuable commercial fish, they are also...

, white sucker

White Sucker

The White Sucker is a bottom-feeding freshwater fish inhabiting North America from Labrador in the north to Georgia and New Mexico in the south. It is a long, round-bodied fish with a dark green, grey, copper, brown, or black back and sides and a light underbelly. When fullgrown, it is between 12...

, channel catfish

Channel catfish

Channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States they are the most fished catfish species with approximately 8...

, burbot

Burbot

The burbot is the only gadiform fish inhabiting freshwaters. It is also known as mariah, the lawyer, and eelpout. It is closely related to the marine common ling and the cusk...

, bigmouth buffalo

Bigmouth buffalo

The bigmouth buffalo, Ictiobus cyprinellus, also known as the gourd head, redmouth buffalo, buffalo fish, bernard buffalo, roundhead, or brown buffalo, is a large species of the Catostomidae or "sucker" family....

and common carp

Common carp

The Common carp is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia. The wild populations are considered vulnerable to extinction, but the species has also been domesticated and introduced into environments worldwide, and is often considered an invasive...

. Buffalo Pound Provincial Park

Buffalo Pound Provincial Park

Buffalo Pound Provincial Park is a Saskatchewan Provincial Park located in southern Saskatchewan about 25 km northeast of the city of Moose Jaw.The park centres around Buffalo Pound Lake, a prairie lake formed from glaciation about 10,000 years ago...

is located on the southeastern shore of the lake and can be accessed by Highway 202

Saskatchewan Highway 202

Highway 202 is a highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It runs from Highway 2 at Tuxford to Highway 301 near the Buffalo Pound Provincial Park. Highway 202 is about 11 km long.-External links:*...

and Highway 301

Saskatchewan Highway 301

Highway 301 is a highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It runs from the Highway 1-Highway 39 intersection near Pasqua to Highway 202 near Buffalo Pound Provincial Park. Highway 301 is about 24 km long....

. cabin

Log cabin

A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...

s can be rented or bought along the shores of the lake.

Highway 2

Saskatchewan Highway 2

Highway 2 is a provincial highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is the longest Saskatchewan Highway, at 809 km . The highway is partially divided and undivided. However, only about near Moose Jaw, near Chamberlain, and near Prince Albert are divided highway...

crosses by causeway

Causeway

In modern usage, a causeway is a road or railway elevated, usually across a broad body of water or wetland.- Etymology :When first used, the word appeared in a form such as “causey way” making clear its derivation from the earlier form “causey”. This word seems to have come from the same source by...

on the lake.

The Moose Jaw River joins the Qu'Appelle River 5 km east of the dam.

External links

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