Big Lake is a lake in

Edmonton metropolitan region The Edmonton Metropolitan Region (EMR), also commonly referred to as Greater Edmonton or Metro Edmonton, is a conglomeration of municipalities centred on Alberta's provincial capital of Edmonton. The EMR's commonly known boundaries are coincide ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is located adjacent to the northwest corner of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

and the southwest corner of St. Albert. Its primary inflow is the Sturgeon River. The lake sits on the sands and gravels of the Empress Formation, an

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characterist ...

below its surface that was laid down by retreating glacial meltwaters. Big Lake is part of the long Sturgeon River that begins at Hoople Lake and flows east to the

North Saskatchewan River 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 eventual ...

. Atim Creek flows into Big Lake from the west and Carrot Creek from the north. Big Lake is home to as much as 235 different types of birds. The western bay of the lake provides rare nesting habitat for

Franklin's gull Franklin's gull (''Leucophaeus pipixcan'') is a small (length 12.6–14.2 in, 32–36 cm) gull. The genus name ''Leucophaeus'' is from Ancient Greek ''leukos'', "white", and ''phaios'', "dusky". The specific ''pipixcan'' is a Nahuatl name fo ...

s. The Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park is established on the shore of the lake.

History

Big Lake's name comes from the

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

Indians of the area, who named the lake on account of its size. Alberta Fish and Wildlife considers Big Lake to be one of the 20 most important habitat areas in Alberta. In May 1999, the

Alberta Government The Executive Council of Alberta (the Cabinet) is a body of ministers of the Crown in right of Alberta, who along with the lieutenant governor, exercises the powers of the Government of Alberta. Ministers are selected by the premier and typicall ...

created the Big Lake Natural Area comprising 1,119 hectares of lake and wetlands. On June 5, 2001 the lake became an

Important Bird Areas An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Inte ...

site. In 2005 Big Lake became Alberta's newest Provincial Park, named Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park.

Notes

References

Big Lake and Sturgeon River
{{authority control Lakes of Alberta Big Lake Landforms of Edmonton Parkland County Sturgeon County

History

See also

Notes

References