Brightwater Creek is a river in south central

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

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 a tributary of the

South Saskatchewan River The South Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada that flows through the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. For the first half of the 20th century, the South Saskatchewan would completely freeze over during winter, creating spectacular ...

in a region called the

Prairie Pothole Region The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR; french: Région des cuvettes/fondrières des prairies) is an expansive area of the northern Great Plains that contains thousands of shallow wetlands known as potholes. These potholes are the result of glacier ac ...

of North America, which extends throughout three Canadian provinces and five

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

s. It is also within

Palliser's Triangle Palliser's Triangle, or the Palliser Triangle, is a semi-arid steppe occupying a substantial portion of the Western Canadian Prairie Provinces, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba, within the Great Plains region. While initially determined to be un ...

and the Great Plains ecoregion.

Course

Brightwater Creek starts south of Kenaston in the south-east corner of the RM of Rosedale No. 283. After a short jog west, it turns north and travels in a north-northwest direction, passing Highway 15 about 12 km west of Kenaston, until it flows into Brightwater Reservoir. Brightwater Reservoir was created by the building of the Brightwater Creek Dam in 1967 as part of the South Saskatchewan River Project, which included the building of

Gardiner Dam 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 ...

and the creation of

Lake Diefenbaker Lake Diefenbaker is a reservoir and bifurcation lake 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. Construc ...

. From the dam, the river takes a meandering course northwards and crosses Highway 764. Then it travels north towards

Indi Lake 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 ...

, past the

closed basin An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

Proctor Lake (), and into Brightwater Lake. Indi Lake flows to Brightwater Creek via a short stream. At the northern end of Brightwater Lake, at the point where the river leaves the lake, is the town of Dundurn. From there, the river travels north past Camp Dundurn and empties into the

Beaver Creek Conservation Area

Beaver Creek Conservation Area () is a

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distri ...

that was founded in 1979 and is operated by the

Meewasin Valley Authority The Meewasin Valley Authority is a conservation organization created by the Provincial Government of Saskatchewan in Canada and is dedicated to conserving the cultural and natural resources of the South Saskatchewan River Valley. The authority's ...

. It is accessed from Highway 219, south of Saskatoon, and located on the estuary of Brightwater Creek at the South Saskatchewan River. The community of Beaver Creek is about from the park. The interpretive centre was built in 1984 and offers interactive activities for school groups. There are three different trails, Living Sky, Beaver Creek Discovery, and Beaver Creek River View, that traverse the park. The trails are accessible by walking, biking, and, in the winter, cross-country skiing. The land the park encompasses has been used as a nature park since 1913 and protects the local

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

, including sand dunes, forests, prairie grasslands, river valleys, and marshes. Animals, birds, and plants such as deer, fox, beaver,

chickadee The chickadees are a group of North American birds in the tit family included in the genus '' Poecile''. Species found in North America are referred to as chickadees, while other species in the genus are called tits. They are small-sized bird ...

, smooth

goosefoot ''Chenopodium'' is a genus of numerous species of perennial or annual herbaceous flowering plants known as the goosefoots, which occur almost anywhere in the world. It is placed in the family Amaranthaceae in the APG II system; older classific ...

, and the

common nighthawk The common nighthawk (''Chordeiles minor'') is a medium-sized crepuscular or nocturnal bird of the Americas within the nightjar family, whose presence and identity are best revealed by its vocalization. Typically dark (gray, black and brown), di ...

are commonly found in the park.

Brightwater Reservoir

Brightwater Reservoir () is a man-made lake in the RM of Rosedale No. 283 created in 1967 when Brightwater Creek Dam, an embankment dam, was built on the Brightwater Creek. The reservoir has a surface area of and a maximum volume of . The dam is located at the north end of the lake and is high. Brightwater Creek enters the lake from the south while the aqueduct inflow is located at the west end of the dam. The outflows are at the east end of the dam. The outlet for the aqueduct is referred to as the riparian outlet. The aqueduct system is part of the South Saskatchewan River Project. The portion of aqueduct that flows into Brightwater Reservoir originates at

from

. Another reservoir, Broderick Reservoir, is along the same aqueduct en route from Lake Diefenbaker. After the aqueduct leaves Brightwater Reservoir, it heads directly north towards Indi Lake. While Brightwater Creek runs along the west side of Indi Lake, the aqueduct runs along the east side en route to

Blackstrap Lake 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. B ...

Brightwater Lake

Brightwater Lake (), also known as Brightwater Marsh, is a shallow, oval-shaped marshy lake along the course of Brightwater Creek. The area covered by the lake is approximately long by wide. Brightwater Creek enters the lake from the south and exits it from the north, near the town of Dundurn. During dry years, the lake almost completely dries up. It is above sea level.

Fishing

Fishing is allowed on Brightwater Creek; the most popular species caught are

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a p ...

and

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Sam ...

References