South Saskatchewan River | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | Canada |
Provinces | |
Physical characteristics | |
Source confluence | Oldman and Bow Rivers |
• location | Municipal District of Taber, Alberta |
• coordinates | 49°56′00″N111°41′30″W / 49.93333°N 111.69167°W |
• elevation | 700 m (2,300 ft) |
Mouth | Saskatchewan River |
• location | Saskatchewan River Forks, Saskatchewan |
• coordinates | 53°14′6″N105°4′58″W / 53.23500°N 105.08278°W |
• elevation | 380 m (1,250 ft) |
Length | 1,392 km (865 mi) |
Basin size | 146,100 km2 (56,400 sq mi) |
Discharge | |
• location | Saskatoon, SK |
• average | 249 m3/s (8,800 cu ft/s) |
Basin features | |
Tributaries | |
• left | |
• right |
The South Saskatchewan River [1] is a major river in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The river begins at the confluence of the Bow and Oldman Rivers in southern Alberta and ends at the Saskatchewan River Forks in central Saskatchewan. The Saskatchewan River Forks is the confluence of the South and North Saskatchewan Rivers and is the beginning of the Saskatchewan River.
For the first half of the 20th century, the South Saskatchewan would completely freeze over during winter, creating spectacular ice breaks and dangerous conditions in Saskatoon, Medicine Hat, and elsewhere. At least one bridge in Saskatoon was destroyed by ice carried by the river. The construction of the Gardiner Dam in the 1960s, however, lessened the power of the river by diverting a substantial portion of the South Saskatchewan's natural flow into the Qu'Appelle River. By the 1980s many permanent sandbars had formed due to the lowering of the level of the river.
From the headwaters of the Bow River, the South Saskatchewan flows for 1,392 kilometres (865 mi). At its mouth at Saskatchewan River Forks, it has an average discharge of 280 cubic metres per second (9,900 cu ft/s) and has a watershed of 146,100 square kilometres (56,400 sq mi), 1,800 of which are in Montana in the United States and 144,300 square kilometres (55,700 sq mi) in Alberta and Saskatchewan. [2]
The river originates at the confluence of the Bow and Oldman Rivers, north of Grassy Lake, Alberta at the incorporated community of Bow Island, not to be confused with the town of Bow Island, Alberta. The waters of these two rivers, in turn, originate from winter snowpack and rainfall in the Rocky Mountains near the British Columbia and Montana border. Glacier and snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains and foothills contributes nearly 90% of the annual flow, with most of that contribution during July and August. [3] The Red Deer River is a major tributary of the South Saskatchewan merging 16 kilometres (10 mi) east of the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. The Lake Diefenbaker reservoir was created with the construction of the Gardiner and Qu'Appelle River dams in Saskatchewan. Water from the South Saskatchewan flowing through the dams provides approximately 19 percent of the hydro-electricity generated by SaskPower. [4]
Downstream from the dam the river flows north through Saskatoon and joins the North Saskatchewan River east of Prince Albert at the Saskatchewan River Forks — thus forming the Saskatchewan River. For approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi) near Saskatoon, the Meewasin Valley Authority is responsible for conservation of the river environment. Numerous lakes in the Saskatoon area were formed by oxbows of the South Saskatchewan River, most notably Moon Lake and Pike Lake. [3]
A 2009 report, [5] produced by WWF-Canada which analysed the river flow on ten major Canadian rivers reported that the South Saskatchewan River was the most at risk. Climate change, agricultural and urban infrastructure water use, and dams producing hydroelectricity, have all combined to reduce the flow of the South Saskatchewan River by 70 percent. Developers and governments have been cautioned to protect and restore the river with sustainable projects and limit water diversion. [6] Dickson Dam regulates water supply downstream on the Red Deer River; the Bassano Dam and 11 other dams divert water on the Bow River and in the Bow River basin; and the Oldman River Dam and Waterton-St. Mary Headworks System manage water flow downstream of the Oldman River. [7] The proposed Meridian dam 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of Leader and 95 kilometres (59 mi) north east of Medicine Hat was cancelled due to project costs outweighing the irrigation benefits. [8] [9]
The following are the tributaries of the South Saskatchewan River from its source to its mouth: [10]
The following is a list of named islands in the South Saskatchewan River from its source to its mouth:
Sections of the riverbank along the South Saskatchewan River are prone to slumping. [12] Since its founding, the city of Saskatoon has dealt with a number of slope failures. Controlling riverbank development was a factor in establishing the Meewasin Valley Authority in 1979. [13]
There are four Important Bird Areas (IBA) of Canada along the South Saskatchewan River. Two – Galloway and Miry Bay (SK006) and East Lake Diefenbaker (SK055) – are located at Lake Diefenbaker and the other two are farther upstream along the river's course. [14] [15]
Suffield (AB 007) ( 50°27′54″N110°31′59″W / 50.4651°N 110.5331°W ) is in Alberta on the Canadian Forces Base Suffield. Covering an area of 460.71 km2 (177.88 sq mi), the IBA consists of two sections on the base along the north-western shore of the South Saskatchewan River. The landscape consists of mixed grasslands with intermittent salt lakes and natural springs. Birds found at the site include the burrowing owl, loggerhead shrike, long-billed curlew, ferruginous hawk, McCown's longspur, Brewer's sparrow, upland sandpiper, Baird's sparrow, Sprague's pipit, grasshopper sparrow, western meadowlark, golden eagle, and the prairie falcon. Besides the aforementioned birds, the habitat is also important for several animals, including the mule deer, pronghone antelope, Ord's kangaroo rat, pygmy short-horned lizard, western hognosed snake, and the prairie rattlesnake. [16]
The South Saskatchewan River (Empress to Lancer Ferry) (SK 046) IBA ( 50°56′09″N109°52′06″W / 50.9359°N 109.8682°W ) is in Saskatchewan and follows the course of the South Saskatchewan River from the Alberta / Saskatchewan border east to the Lancer Ferry crossing and includes the river's valley and the fork with the Red Deer River. The site covers an area of 208.6 km (129.6 mi). The valley floor is heavily wooded and includes trees such as the eastern cottonwood, Manitoba maple, peach-leaved willow, and the green ash. Birds found at the site include the long-billed curlew, piping plover, loggerhead shrike, short-eared owl, ferruginous hawk, red-headed woodpecker, prairie falcon, turkey vulture, golden eagle, great horned owl, western screech owl, pileated woodpecker, western wood pewee, rock wren, alder flycatcher, yellow-breasted chat, and the great blue heron. [17]
Fish species include walleye, sauger, yellow perch, northern pike, lake trout, rainbow trout, goldeye, lake whitefish, cisco, lake sturgeon, burbot, quillback, longnose sucker, white sucker, and shorthead redhorse. [18]
Milk River is a tributary of the Missouri River, 729 miles (1,173 km) long, in the U.S. state of Montana and the Canadian province of Alberta. Rising in the Rocky Mountains, the river drains a sparsely populated, semi-arid watershed of 23,800 square miles (62,000 km2), ending just east of Fort Peck, Montana.
The Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada. It stretches about 550 kilometres (340 mi) from where it is formed by the joining of the North Saskatchewan River and South Saskatchewan River just east of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. It flows roughly eastward across Saskatchewan and Manitoba to empty into Lake Winnipeg. Through its tributaries the North Saskatchewan and South Saskatchewan, its watershed encompasses much of the prairie regions of Canada, stretching westward to the Rocky Mountains in Alberta and north-western Montana in the United States.
Battle Creek is a river that begins in the south-eastern region of the Canadian province of Alberta, near the border with Saskatchewan, in the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. From Alberta, Battle Creek flows east and across the border into Saskatchewan. It flows south out of Saskatchewan across the Canada–United States border into Montana, where it joins the Milk River in Blaine County, Montana.
The Gardiner Dam on the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatchewan is the third largest embankment dam in Canada and one of the largest embankment dams in the world. Construction on Gardiner Dam and the smaller Qu'Appelle River Dam was started in 1959 and completed in 1967, creating Lake Diefenbaker upstream and diverting a considerable portion of the South Saskatchewan's flow into the Qu'Appelle River. The dam rises 64 metres (209 feet) in height, is almost 5 km (3.1 mi) long and has a width of 1.5 km (0.93 mi) at its base with a volume of 65,000,000 cubic meters. The dam is owned and operated by the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency.
The Qu'Appelle River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba that flows 430 kilometres (270 mi) east from Lake Diefenbaker in south-western Saskatchewan to join the Assiniboine River in Manitoba, just south of Lake of the Prairies, near the village of St. Lazare. It is in a region called the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, which extends throughout three Canadian provinces and five U.S. states. It is also within Palliser's Triangle and the Great Plains ecoregion.
The Churchill River is a major river in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada. From the head of the Churchill Lake it is 1,609 kilometres (1,000 mi) long. It was named after John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and governor of the Hudson's Bay Company from 1685 to 1691. The Cree name for the river is Missinipi, meaning "big waters". The Denesuline name for the river is des nëdhë́, meaning "Great River".
The Oldman River is a river in southern Alberta, Canada. It flows roughly west to east from the Rocky Mountains, through the communities of Fort Macleod, Lethbridge, and on to Grassy Lake, where it joins the Bow River to form the South Saskatchewan River, which eventually drains into the Hudson Bay.
Lake Diefenbaker is a reservoir and bifurcation lake in southern part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. 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 225 kilometres (140 mi) long with approximately 800 kilometres (500 mi) of shoreline. It has a maximum depth of 66 metres (217 ft), while the water levels regularly fluctuate 3–9 metres (9–27 feet) each year. The flow of the two rivers is now regulated with a considerable portion of the South Saskatchewan diverted into the Qu'Appelle. Prior to the dams' construction, high water levels in the South Saskatchewan would frequently cause dangerous ice conditions downstream in Saskatoon while the Qu'Appelle would frequently dry up in the summer months.
The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows eventually into the Hudson Bay.
Last Mountain Lake, also known as Long Lake, is a prairie lake formed from glaciation 11,000 years ago. It is located in south central Saskatchewan, Canada, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) north-west of the city of Regina. It flows into the Qu'Appelle River via Last Mountain Creek, which flows past Craven. It is approximately 93 km (58 mi) long, and 3 km (1.9 mi) across at its widest point. It is the largest naturally occurring body of water in southern Saskatchewan. Only Lake Diefenbaker, which is man-made, is larger. The lake is a popular resort area for residents of south-eastern Saskatchewan.
The Saskatchewan River Delta (SRD), also known as Cumberland Marshes, is a large alluvial delta that straddles the border of the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Western Canada. Currently terminating at Cedar Lake, Manitoba, the delta is composed mainly of various types of wetlands, shallow lakes, and active and abandoned river channels bordered by forested natural levees. Sixty-five percent of the delta is occupied by vegetated wetlands, over one third of which comprise peat-forming fens and bogs. Geographically, the SRD consists of two parts – western and eastern – separated by a prominent moraine that was deposited by the Laurentide Ice Sheet during late stages of the Wisconsinan glacial epoch. These two components, commonly termed the "upper delta" and "lower delta", together occupy an area of approximately 10,000 km2 (3,900 sq mi) making the SRD one of the largest active inland deltas in North America. The broad wetland tracts of the upper delta in Saskatchewan are sometimes referred to as the Cumberland Marshes. Approximately 5% of the delta surface has been drained for agricultural use following feasibility studies by the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration in the 1950s.
Blackstrap Lake is a man-made reservoir in central Saskatchewan, Canada, south of Saskatoon in the Rural Municipality of Dundurn No. 314. The lake was created as a reservoir in 1967, as part of the Saskatoon South East Water Supply System. Blackstrap Lake has an area of 1,200 ha and is generally used to support irrigation, and the industrial and municipal water supply.
Indi Lake is a man-made lake in central Saskatchewan, Canada, south of Saskatoon in the Rural Municipality of Dundurn No. 314. The lake was created for irrigation and recreation in 1967 by a dam located at its south end. The lake is part of a greater irrigation and aqueduct system built in the 1960s in Saskatchewan and was named after Indi, an unincorporated railway point nearby on the Canadian National Railway (CNR).
Brightwater Creek is a river in south central part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is a tributary of the South Saskatchewan River in a region called the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, which extends throughout three Canadian provinces and five U.S. states. It is also within Palliser's Triangle and the Great Plains ecoregion. Along the river's course there is a dam and reservoir and a regional park. There are no communities along its course.
Thunder Creek is a river in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The watershed of Thunder Creek is within the semi-arid Palliser's Triangle in south-central Saskatchewan. It begins at small, man-made reservoir near Lake Diefenbaker and flows in a south-easterly direction towards the city of Moose Jaw and the Moose Jaw River. The Moose Jaw River is a major tributary of the Qu'Appelle River For most of its course, Thunder Creek follows a valley called the Thunder Creek meltwater channel that was formed over 10,000 years ago near the end of the last ice age.
Red Deer River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It has its source at Nut Lake in east central Saskatchewan and from there, it flows east towards Manitoba where it empties into Dawson Bay of Lake Winnipegosis. To the north of Red Deer's basin is the Saskatchewan River, to the south-west is the upper Assiniboine River, and to the south-east is Swan River.
Eyebrow Lake is a man-made marshy lake that parallels the Qu'Appelle River in the southern region of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Located in the RM of Huron No. 223, it is the first lake in a series of lakes along the Qu'Appelle River after Qu'Appelle River Dam and Lake Diefenbaker. The next lake downstream is Buffalo Pound Lake. The closest community is the village of Tugaske and, while there are no public recreation sites at the lake, it can be accessed by Highway 627. The lake gets its name from the nearby Eyebrow Hills, which are shaped like an eyebrow. The nearby town of Eyebrow and RM of Eyebrow No. 193 are also named after these hills.
Swift Current Creek is a river in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. In the 1800s, Métis buffalo hunters called it Rivière au Courant. This name was also adopted by the North-West Mounted Police on their March West in 1874. In 1883, the name Swift Current Creek was first published on official maps by the Department of the Interior. The river begins at an elevation of over 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) in the Cypress Hills and flows in a north-easterly direction through valleys and coulees en route to Lake Diefenbaker of the South Saskatchewan River in the semi-arid region known as Palliser's Triangle. Notable communities along the river's course include Swift Current, Waldeck, and South Fork.
Dellwood Reservoir is a reservoir in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in the Rural Municipality of Usborne No. 310. The reservoir was built along the course of Dellwood Brook as part of South Saskatchewan River Project. That project, originating at Gardiner Dam of Lake Diefenbaker, involved the building of aqueducts and a series of reservoirs to supply water for irrigation, consumption, and industry. The reservoir is about 22 kilometres (14 mi) north-east of the town of Watrous and access is from Highway 668.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires |journal=
(help)