Fife Lake is a fresh water

prairie lake A prairie lake is a somewhat shallow lake that will empty naturally during dry seasons, allowing a variety of terrestrial plants to flourish upon the rich nutrients in the exposed lakebed, and the lakes eventually refill with water returning to 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 ...

. It is in the south-central part of the province at the eastern end of the

Wood Mountain Hills Wood Mountain Hills are a hilly plateau in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The hills are located in the southern part of the province and are part of the Missouri Coteau, which is part of the Laurentian Divide between the watersheds of ...

. The entire lake and its shoreline is designated an

Important Bird Area 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 Int ...

(IBA) of Canada to protect the nationally endangered

piping plover The piping plover (''Charadrius melodus'') is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band across the forehead from e ...

. While there are no communities along the lake's shore, there is a park and campground at the southern end. Nearby communities include Fife Lake, Rockglen, and

Lisieux Lisieux () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It is the capital of the Pays d'Auge area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland. Name The name of the town derives from the l ...

. Access is from Highway 18.

Description

Fife Lake a is shallow, irregularly shaped

. Its primary inflow, Hay Meadow Creek, flows into the west end of the lake from the central part of the

. Girard Creek, the lake's outflow, is a tributary of the East Poplar River. The East Poplar River is a major tributary of the Poplar River, which connects to the Missouri River in the U.S. state of

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

. Being a shallow prairie lake, during drought years, Fife Lake water levels drop significantly. Lake water levels have been known to fluctuate by over . A record surface elevation high of was recorded in 1979 and a record low of was recorded in 1993. By 2011, the lake had stabilised at above sea level. Fife Lake had been known for great

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

fishing, but the low water levels through the late 1980s and 1990s had caused caused the fish to die off. While the lake is known for significant seasonal water level changes, the

Water Security Agency Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

said that the extreme water level changes seen at that time were related to coal mining operations to the south-east, near Coronarch. In the spring of 2016, with water levels having recovered, the lake was re-stocked with 200,000 walleye.

Rockin Beach Regional Park

Rockin Beach Regional Park () is a recreational park on the southern shore of Fife Lake, about east of Rockglen. It is run by a

non-profit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

. The park has a campground, ball diamonds, volleyball courts, hiking trails, a motocross track, and lake access with a dock and a beach for swimming. The Rockin Beach Mud Bog event is held there every August.

Important Bird Area

The entirety of Fife Lake is part of the Fife Lake (SK 021)

(IBA) of Canada. It is considered a critical

habitat under the provincial Wildlife Habitat Protection Act. That designation protects the lake up to the high water mark from development. The IBA site itself totals of land with an elevation range of 800 metres to 823 metres above sea level. Besides the piping plover, other birds important to the lake include the

western grebe The western grebe (''Aechmophorus occidentalis'') is a species in the grebe family of water birds. Folk names include "dabchick", "swan grebe" and "swan-necked grebe". Western grebe fossils from the Late Pleistocene of southwest North America we ...

eared grebe The black-necked grebe or eared grebe (''Podiceps nigricollis'') is a member of the grebe family of water birds. It was described in 1831 by Christian Ludwig Brehm. There are currently three accepted subspecies, including the nominate subspeci ...

, and the

black-crowned night heron The black-crowned night heron (''Nycticorax nycticorax''), or black-capped night heron, commonly shortened to just night heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, including parts of Europe, Asia, and N ...

Fish species

The most commonly found fish in the lake is the

References

{{Authority control Lakes of Saskatchewan Important Bird Areas of Saskatchewan Poplar Valley No. 12, Saskatchewan Willow Bunch No. 42, Saskatchewan

Description

Rockin Beach Regional Park

Important Bird Area

Fish species

See also

References