Skaha Lake

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Skaha Lake
Skaha Lake.jpg
Canada British Columbia relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Skaha Lake
Location British Columbia
Coordinates 49°25′20″N119°35′16″W / 49.42222°N 119.58778°W / 49.42222; -119.58778
Primary inflows Okanagan River
Primary outflows Okanagan River
Catchment area Okanagan Basin
Basin  countries Canada
Max. length11.8 kilometres (7.3 mi)
Max. width2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi)
Surface area19.6 square kilometres (7.6 sq mi)
Average depth26.6 metres (87 ft)
Max. depth56.7 metres (186 ft)
Water volume0.552 cubic kilometres (0.132 cu mi)
Residence time 1.1 years
Shore length130.7 kilometres (19.1 mi)
Surface elevation339 m (1112 ft)
FrozenFebruary 2014
Settlements Penticton, Okanagan Falls
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Skaha Lake is a freshwater lake, through which the Okanagan River flows, in the Okanagan region of south central British Columbia. [1] Along the shoreline are Penticton (north), Kaleden (west), and Okanagan Falls (south).

Contents

Name origin

The lake was labelled L. du Chien on Anderson's map (1867) and Du Chien L. on Trutch maps (1866 and 1871). Likely named by French Canadian fur traders, the origin is unknown. The translation as Dog Lake was later adopted. When changed to Skaha Lake in 1930, the Shuswap name for dog was mistakenly chosen. The Okanagan meaning of Skaha is horse. [2]

Ferries

In the early years, the Okanagan depended upon water transportation from the rail terminal at Okanagan Landing. Penticton separates Okanagan Lake from Skaha Lake. [3] In 1893, W. J. Snodgrass acquired a new boat, the Jessie, named for his daughter. Plying the Okanagan Falls–Penticton run, this boat burned at the Falls in 1898. In 1894, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) built the 17-metre (55 ft) sternwheeler SS Fairview for this run but soon moved to Okanagan Lake, where the vessel burned in 1897. The 27-metre (89 ft)Greenwood, launched in 1897 at Okanagan Landing, burned at the Falls around 1903. In 1899, Snodgrass purchased another boat, the Maude Moore, named after his youngest daughter. In 1905, the vessel relocated to Naramata. In 1910, CP launched the 29-metre (94 ft)Kaleden for the Penticton–Okanagan Falls run. [4] Encountering navigational difficulties on the connecting river, the sternwheeler remained in Okanagan Lake after the initial run. [5]

In 1909, James Ritchie bought the launch Mallard, which he renamed Kaleden for his Kaleden subdivision. For two years, the vessel towed scows carrying building materials. The absence of wharves meant the scows were run up onto the beaches for loading and unloading. [5] In 1911, J.F. Campbell and A.S. Hatfield bought the Kaleden to form the South Okanagan Transportation Company. The next year, they built wharves on the lake at Penticton, Kaleden, and Okanagan Falls. That year, they bought the new 12-metre (40 ft) launch Cygnet and sold the Kaleden. In 1914, the 10-metre (32 ft)Mallard entered service, which included the river route. [6] During 1920–1931, CP's SS York pushed rail barges on the Penticton–Okanagan Falls leg. [7]

The ferry service was subsidized in 1900 [8] and 1910–1922. [9]

Ecology

In the chain of Okanagan lakes, Skaha Lake is south of Okanagan Lake and north of Vaseux Lake. Possessing an approximate 20-square-kilometre (7.7 sq mi) surface area and 55-metre (180 ft) depth, [10] the lake lies as the boundary between the Okanagan dry forests to the northeast and the Cascade Mountains leeward forests to the west. To the south lies the Columbia Plateau shrubland, the only xeric shrubland ecoregion in Canada.[ citation needed ] The lake hosts a variety of fish including kokanee salmon, rainbow trout, and smallmouth bass. [11] The most recent forming of thicker ice occurred in the mid-1990s and 2014. [12]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Skaha Lake". BC Geographical Names .
  2. ↑ Harvey, A.G. (1948). "Okanagan Historical Society: Okanagan Place Names". library.ubc.ca: 222 (220).
  3. ↑ Corbitt 1958, p. 30 (28).
  4. ↑ Corbitt 1958, p. 31 (29).
  5. 1 2 Corbitt 1958, p. 32 (30).
  6. ↑ Corbitt 1958, p. 33 (31).
  7. ↑ Corbitt 1958, p. 35 (33).
  8. ↑ "Commissioner of Land and Works annual report, 1900". library.ubc.ca. p. 133 (501).
  9. ↑ "Public Accounts, 1910–11". library.ubc.ca. p. 178 (C182). to
    "Minister of Public Works annual report, 1921–22". library.ubc.ca. p. 132 (G108).
  10. ↑ "Skaha Lake". wldb.ilec.or.jp.
  11. ↑ "Skaha Lake Fishing Charter with Rodney's REEL Outdoors". www.kelownafishing.com.
  12. ↑ "Kelowna Now". www.kelownanow.com. 10 Feb 2014.

Related Research Articles

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Okanagan Falls is a community located on the south end of Skaha Lake in British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Okanagan Desert</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mara Lake</span>

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SS <i>Okanagan</i>

SS Okanagan was a steamship owned and operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway Lake and River Service. The vessel was constructed in 1906 at Okanagan Landing and launched in 1907, becoming Okanagan Lake's second steamship. She linked the transportation hubs at both the north and south ends of Okanagan Lake (Vernon and Penticton, respectively, aiding the development of interior British Columbia with other steamships of the 1900s. The ship was retired in 1934 and sold for scrap and spare parts. Only the Stern Saloon, a room in the back of the upper deck, remains. It was moved to the SS Sicamous Heritage Park in Penticton in 2002, to undergo restoration work.

SS <i>York</i>

SS York was a small steamer that was used to haul freight on Okanagan Lake and Skaha Lake. York was built in 1902 by Bertram Iron Works of Toronto and assembled at Okanagan Landing. She was pre-fabricated with a steel hull and was twin-screw-driven. She was a small vessel in comparison to the many other ships on the lake; York was only 88 by 16 feet. York was capable of moving 134 tons in freight and could carry up to 90 passengers.

SS <i>Aberdeen</i>

SS Aberdeen was a steamship commissioned by Canadian Pacific Railway company. It was the first CPR steamship on Okanagan Lake and carried passengers and cargo from Okanagan Landing to Penticton from 1893 to 1919. Aberdeen connected communities along Okanagan Lake for the first time, creating a new era in the Okanagan Valley and greatly aiding the economy and settlement of the interior of British Columbia.

SS Maude-Moore was a wood-burning screw steamer that provided a ferry service between the communities of Summerland, Naramata, and Penticton on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada.

MV Mallard, later Kaleden, was a ferry that linked the communities of Summerland and Naramata on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada from 1908 to 1910, and later served Skaha Lake and Kaleden, British Columbia, under the name Kaleden.

SS Fairview was a wood-burning sternwheeler built at Okanagan Landing shipyard in 1894 to run between the communities Penticton and Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, Canada. She was built by M. E. Cousens, chief of engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway company-owned SS Aberdeen, and was the second steamship built at Okanagan Landing after Aberdeen. Although she was intended to run on Okanagan River between Penticton and Okanagan Falls, then called Dogtown, Fairview was too large for the river and was instead used for passenger and freight service on Okanagan Lake. Fairview caught fire at Okanagan Landing on the return trip from an excursion and burned in 1897.

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References


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