The Lac Bureau is a vast freshwater body of the southwestern part of the

Gouin Reservoir The Gouin Reservoir () is a man-made lake, in La Tuque, in Mauricie, in the central portion of the Canadian province of Quebec, fully within the boundaries of the City of La Tuque. It is not one contiguous body of water, but the collective na ...

, in the territory of the town of

La Tuque La Tuque (; ) is a city located in north-central Quebec, Canada, on the Saint-Maurice River, between Trois-Rivières and Chambord. The population was 11,227 at the Canada 2011 Census, most of which live within the urban area. At over 28,000 sq ...

, in Haute-Mauricie, in the administrative region of

Mauricie Mauricie () is a traditional and current administrative region of Quebec. La Mauricie National Park is contained within the region, making it a prime tourist location. The region has a land area of 35,860.05 km² (13,845.64 sq mi) and a popu ...

, in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, in

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 ...

. This lake extends in the cantons of Le May, Evanturel, Myrand, Achintre and Sulte. Following the erection completed in 1948 of the

Gouin dam Gouin or Goüin may refer to: Places * Barrage Gouin Water Aerodrome, airport in Quebec * Gouin-Gouin, town in Burkina Faso * Gouin (electoral district), provincial electoral district * Gouin Boulevard, longest street on the island of Montreal * ...

, the current shape of the "Lac Bureau" was shaped by the raising of the waters of the

Gouin reservoir The Gouin Reservoir () is a man-made lake, in La Tuque, in Mauricie, in the central portion of the Canadian province of Quebec, fully within the boundaries of the City of La Tuque. It is not one contiguous body of water, but the collective na ...

. The water level varies significantly, being dependent on the water management of the

Gouin Dam Gouin or Goüin may refer to: Places * Barrage Gouin Water Aerodrome, airport in Quebec * Gouin-Gouin, town in Burkina Faso * Gouin (electoral district), provincial electoral district * Gouin Boulevard, longest street on the island of Montreal * ...

erected in 1948. Recreotourism activities are the main economic activity of the sector. Forestry comes second. The route 404 serves the

Oskélanéo River The Oskélanéo River is a tributary of the South Bay of Bureau Lake (Gouin Reservoir), flowing into the town of La Tuque, in the administrative region of Mauricie, in Quebec, in Canada. The Oskélanéo River runs successively in the cantons of ...

Valley and South Zone of South Bay of Bureau Lake. A forest road branch serves the west side of the latter bay. The surface of Lake Bureau is usually frozen from mid-November to the end of April, however, safe ice circulation is generally from early December to the end of March.

Geography

Toponymy

A map dating from 1924 has three distinct water bodies, not connected to each other, on the site of the present Lake Bureau. The gradual raising of water, caused by the creation of the Gouin Reservoir in 1948, led to the merger of the Great South Lake and the lakes of the North and East, creating a new lake entity. This hydronym which has been official since 1935, evokes the work of life of Joseph Bureau (1837-1914). Born in L'Ancienne-Lorette, in the suburbs of

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

, this explorer-cartographer has greatly contributed to pushing back the frontiers of

topographic knowledge by traversing it in all directions, from

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

Outaouais Outaouais (, ; also commonly called The Outaouais) is a region of western Quebec, Canada. It includes the city of Gatineau, the municipality of Val-des-Monts and the Papineau region. Geographically, it is located on the north side of the Ottawa ...

and

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...

. His services were retained in particular in 1870 to establish the best route for the construction of a railway to the

Lac Saint-Jean Lac Saint-Jean (Canadian French: ) is a large, relatively shallow lake in south-central Quebec, Canada, in the Laurentian Highlands. It is situated north of the Saint Lawrence River, into which it drains via the Saguenay River. It covers an area ...

and

. The following year, it goes back with John Bignell the Saint-Maurice to its source, the "lake of the Male", now integrated into

. In 1872, Bureau agreed to direct the maneuver floating logs on this river. For a long time associated with the cure Labelle for the opening of territories favorable to the colonization of the north, it is interested then with the establishment of a railway since

Quebec (city) Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

as far as the Atlantic coast, then explores a large part of the

Côte-Nord Côte-Nord (, ; ; land area ) is the second-largest administrative region by land area in Quebec, Canada, after Nord-du-Québec. It covers much of the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River estuary and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence past Tadous ...

. Until the end of his life, Joseph Bureau remained active. Lake Bureau also bears the name Attikamek Opiskaw Sakahikan, High Lake. The toponym "Lac Bureau" was formalized on December 18, 1986, by the ommission de toponymie du QuebecCommission de toponymie du Québec - Bank of Place Names - Toponym: "Lac Bureau".
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Geography

Toponymy

Notes and references

See also