Dickson Dam is a flow regulation dam constructed in 1983 which impounded the

Red Deer River The Red Deer River is a river in Alberta and a small portion of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is a major tributary of the South Saskatchewan River and is part of the larger Saskatchewan-Nelson system that empties into Hudson Bay. Red Deer River ...

creating a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

known as

Gleniffer Lake (Alberta) Gleniffer Lake also known as Gleniffer Reservoir or originally Lake Gleniffer is an artificial lake in central Alberta, Canada created in 1983 by the construction of the Dickson Dam which impounded the Red Deer River, a major tributary of the S ...

. The dam is located west of the town of Innisfail and southwest of the city of

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

. The dam was created to control for floods and low winter flows, to improve quality of the river, to create a recreational resource and to provide a reliable, year-round water supply sufficient for future industrial, regional and municipal growth.

Generation

The dam is owned by the Government of Alberta.

Algonquin Power Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. is a Canadian renewable energy and regulated utility conglomerate with assets across North America. Algonquin actively invests in hydroelectric, wind and solar power facilities, and utility businesses (water, nat ...

owns a small hydropower station that was added to the dam. It consists of three 5 MW Barber turbines with Ideal Generators. Commercial operations began on January 16, 1992. Water management of the reservoir is directed by the provincial Ministry of Environment and Water. All water control structures at the site, including the dam, intake, headgates, and spillway, are owned by the Province of Alberta and administered by Alberta Environment and Water, Under the Dickson Power Purchase Agreement signed in 1990, all electrical power generated by the facility is sold to

TransAlta TransAlta Corporation (formerly Calgary Power Company, Ltd.) is an electricity power generator and wholesale marketing company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is a privately owned corporation and its shares are traded publicly. It o ...

Utilities Corporation. The 20-year contract expires on January 16, 2012. Low reservoir water levels were a concern in 2010.

Gleniffer Reservoir Provincial Recreation Area

In the summer of 2009, Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation consolidated six provincial recreation areas (PRAs) at Dickson Dam and around Gleniffer Lake (Dickson Dam–Cottonwood PRA, Dickson Dam–Dickson Point PRA, Dickson Dam–North Dyke PRA, Dickson Dam–South Dyke PRA, Dickson Dam–North Valley PRA, Dickson Dam–South Valley PRA) into one PRA renamed Gleniffer Reservoir PRA. Motorboating, waterskiing, swimming, and sailboarding are allowed. There are rainbow trout in a trout pond. Pike, walleye, Rocky Mountain whitefish, and brown trout are also found nearby.

References

Dams in Alberta Dams completed in 1983 {{Dam-stub