The Pipmuacan Reservoir (french: Réservoir Pipmuacan) is a man-made lake on the boundary of the

Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean (, ) is a region in Quebec, Canada. It contains the Saguenay Fjord, the estuary of the Saguenay River, stretching through much of the region. It is also known as Sagamie in French, from the first part of "Saguenay" and th ...

and

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 ...

regions of Quebec, Canada, about north of

Chicoutimi Chicoutimi () is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and com ...

. It is used to control the flow for downstream hydro-electric generating stations on the

Betsiamites River The Betsiamites (also called Bersimis) is a river of Côte-Nord, Quebec, Canada, which joins the Saint Lawrence River. The Pipmuacan Reservoir, impounded by the Bersimis-1 Dam, is roughly halfway down its course.Natural Resources Canada, Atlas ...

and, through Lake Pamouscachiou, also on the Shipshaw River. It has a total surface area of and a net area (water only) of . The reservoir is shaped highly irregularly, with many deep bays, dotted with islands in its western section, and characterized by a large rounded peninsula in the centre. Primary tributaries are the Betsiamites, Sylvestre, Hirondelles, and Pipmuacan Rivers. The reservoir is named after Lake Pipmuacan that was flooded during the formation of the reservoir. The name is of

Innu The Innu / Ilnu ("man", "person") or Innut / Innuat / Ilnuatsh ("people"), formerly called Montagnais from the French colonial period ( French for "mountain people", English pronunciation: ), are the Indigenous inhabitants of territory in the ...

origin, that may mean "arrow". The Geographic Board reported in 1960 that "according to the missionaries of the Côte-Nord, the

had given this name to the lake in remembrance of their last fight with the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

on Mount Pigmaugan (Pipmuacan) that overlooks the water." Other spelling variations before standardization include Pipmuakan, Pipmaugan, and Pipmakan. The sport fish found in Pipmuacan Reservoir 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 ...

lake trout The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, it can also ...

brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...

, and

lake whitefish The lake whitefish (''Coregonus clupeaformis'') is a species of freshwater whitefish from North America. Lake whitefish are found throughout much of Canada and parts of the northern United States, including all of the Great Lakes. The lake white ...

Outfitter An outfitter is a shop or person that sells specialized clothes (an ''outfit'' is a set of clothing). More specifically, it is a company or individual who provides or deals in equipment and supplies for the pursuit of certain activities. In North ...

s provide fishing excursions and accommodations at the reservoir.

History

The Pipmuacan Reservoir was formed in October 1953 when

Hydro-Québec Hydro-Québec is a public utility that manages the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in the Canadian province of Quebec, as well as the export of power to portions of the Northeast United States. It was established by the ...

began construction on the dams and power plant of Bersimis-1. The first dam, long and high, was built between two mountains surrounding Lake Cassé, and the second, long, curtailed the release of water into the Desroches River. The reservoir's spillway was cut through a mountain between the two dams. By 1956, the construction work was completed. In 2002, Hydro-Québec diverted part of the Portneuf River to the north into the Pipmuacan Reservoir to increase the capacity of the Bersimis power stations.M. Belles-Îles and I. Simard, ''Dérivation partielle de la rivière Portneuf. Suivi environnemental 2005 en phase exploitation – Passe migratoire Portneuf.'' Groupe conseil Génivar inc. for Hydro-Québec, Montréal, 2005 The partial diversion of the Sault aux Cochons River is being studied to further optimize the operation of the existing stations.

References

{{Reflist

External links

"Giant of the North"
''Popular Mechanics'', December 1943, article on the crash program to create the Shipshaw hydroelectric project Lakes of Côte-Nord Reservoirs in Quebec Lakes of Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean