Echo Lake is a lake along the course of the

Qu'Appelle River The Qu'Appelle River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba that flows east from Lake Diefenbaker in south-western Saskatchewan to join the Assiniboine River in Manitoba, just south of Lake of the Prairies, near t ...

in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, 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 t ...

. Echo Lake is so named because of the

echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the list ...

heard by the First Nations while paddling on the lake. It is one of four lakes that make up the

Fishing Lakes The Fishing Lakes, also called the Calling Lakes or the Qu'Appelle Lakes, are a chain of four lakes in the Qu'Appelle Valley cottage country about 40 miles (64 km) to the north-east of Regina in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. T ...

Pasqua Lake Pasqua Lake is a lake along the course of the Qu'Appelle River in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Pasqua Lake was named after Chief Joseph Pasqua who formed what became the Pasqua First Nation. It is one of four lakes that make up the ...

is upstream and

Mission Lake Mission Lake, also known as ''Lebret Lake'', is a lake in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is one of four lakes in the Qu'Appelle River, Qu'Appelle Valley known as the Fishing Lakes. Echo Lake (Sas ...

is downstream. The lake can be accessed by Highway 56 and Highway 210. Echo Lake, as well as the other three Fishing Lakes, are all in the deep-cut Qu'Appelle Valley, which was formed about 14,000 years ago during the last ice age.

Meltwater Meltwater is water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glacial ice, tabular icebergs and ice shelves over oceans. Meltwater is often found in the ablation zone of glaciers, where the rate of snow cover is reducing. Meltwater can be ...

from the glaciers carved out the valley and as water levels rose and fell,

alluvium Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

was left in the wake. These piles of alluvium are what created the separations between the lakes.

Communities

Echo Lake is located in the RM of North Qu'Appelle No. 187. The town of

Fort Qu'Appelle Fort Qu'Appelle is a town in Canadian province of Saskatchewan located in the Qu'Appelle River valley north-east of Regina, between Echo and Mission Lakes of the Fishing Lakes. It is not to be confused with the once-significant nearby t ...

is the largest community, not just on Echo Lake, but all of the Fishing Lakes. It is located at the eastern end of the lake, between Echo and

s. Echo Lake is home to two

resort village A resort village is a type of incorporated urban municipality in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. A resort village is created from an organized hamlet by the Minister of Municipal Affairs by ministerial order via section 51 of ''The Municip ...

s; B-Say-Tah is on a point of land along the southern shore and Fort San is located opposite B-Say-Tah on the northern shore. Standing Buffalo Indian Reserve is located at the north-western corner of the lake and occupies the northern half of the

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmu ...

that separated Echo Lake from

Recreation

Echo Valley Provincial Park Echo Valley Provincial Park is a provincial park in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, located west of the town of Fort Qu'Appelle in the Qu'Appelle Valley between Echo Lake and Pasqua Lake. in the RM of North Qu'Appelle No. 187. The thr ...

is located at the western end of the lake, south of Standing Buffalo and west of B-Say-Tah. The park features camping, hiking, and access to both Pasqua and Echo Lakes for boating, swimming, and fishing. The beach at the park is called Echo Beach. Other beaches along the lake's shore include B-Say-Tah Point Beach and Fort Qu’Appelle Valley Centre beach. Commonly caught fish in the lake include Northern Pike, Walleye, and Yellow Perch. Echo Lake Bible Camp is located west of Fort San along Highway 57.

Saskatchewan Fish Hatchery

The Saskatchewan Fish Hatchery (formally ''Fort Qu’Appelle Fish Culture Station''), originally established in 1913, is located along Highway 210, 5 kilometres west of Fort Qu'Appelle and 2 kilometres east of Echo Valley Provincial Park, on the west side of B-Say-Tah. The hatchery produces between 40 and 50 million total fish annually, including both exotic and native species, which includes 500,000 trout and 20 million walleye. The hatchery is responsible for stocking over 200 bodies of water in Saskatchewan, including up to 150 lakes. It is the only

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

facility in Saskatchewan that produces fish for public angling opportunities. In November 2014, the administration of the Saskatchewan Fish Hatchery was transferred from the

Government of Saskatchewan The Government of Saskatchewan (french: Gouvernement de la Saskatchewan) refers to the provincial government of the province of Saskatchewan. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867. In modern Canadian use, the term "g ...

to the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation. The operating costs are funded by Saskatchewan’s Fish and Wildlife Development Fund (FWDF).

Gallery

File:B-Say-Tah Point 2.JPG, Beach at Echo Lake File:Echo Lake in the Qu'Appelle Valley.jpg, Beach at Echo Lake File:Aerial - Fort QuAppelle, Saskatchewan and Echo Lake 01 - white balanced (10619298233).jpg, Aerial view of Echo Lake from the south. Fort Qu'Appelle is on the right and Pasqua Lake and Echo Valley Provincial Park are on the left

References

External links