Buffalo Pound Lake
Buffalo Pound Lake is a eutrophic prairie lake in Saskatchewan, Canada, formed from glaciation about 10,000 years ago, on the Qu'Appelle River approximately 28 kilometres (17 mi) north of Moose Jaw and 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) north-east of Tuxford. The lake gets its name from the method used by First Nations people to capture the bison using the natural topography as corrals or buffalo pounds. Bison, once numbering more than 60 million on the prairies but almost extinct by 1900, were reintroduced into the area in 1972.
| Buffalo Pound Lake | |
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Buffalo Pound Lake | |
Buffalo Pound Lake Location in Saskatchewan Buffalo Pound Lake Buffalo Pound Lake (Canada) | |
| Location | Saskatchewan |
| Coordinates | 50°39′00″N 105°30′50″W |
| Lake type | Prairie lake |
| Primary inflows | Qu'Appelle River |
| Primary outflows | Qu'Appelle River |
| Catchment area | 3,310 km2 (1,280 sq mi) |
| Basin countries | Canada |
| Managing agency | Saskatchewan Water Security Agency |
| First flooded | 1939 |
| Max. length | 35 km (22 mi) |
| Max. width | 2 km (1.2 mi) |
| Surface area | 29.5 km2 (11.4 sq mi) |
| Average depth | 3 m (9.8 ft) |
| Max. depth | 5.6 m (18 ft) |
| Water volume | 91,987 dam3 (74,575 acre⋅ft) |
| Residence time | 1.5 years |
| Shore length1 | 72.5 km (45.0 mi) |
| Surface elevation | 509.47 m (1,671.5 ft) |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
The lake provides drinking water for the cities of Regina, Moose Jaw, and the Mosaic Company potash mine at Belle Plaine, 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, sauger, yellow perch, northern pike, cisco, mooneye, lake whitefish, white sucker, channel catfish, burbot, bigmouth buffalo, and common carp. Buffalo Pound Provincial Park is located on the southern part of the lake and can be accessed by Highway 202 and Highway 301. Log cabins can be rented or bought along the shores of the lake.
Highway 2 crosses by causeway on the lake.
The Moose Jaw River joins the Qu'Appelle River 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of the dam in the Nicolle Flats Marsh.