The Spray River is a tributary of the Bow River in western Alberta, Canada. The Spray River originates in the southern area of

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada's oldest National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous terrain, wi ...

in the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies (french: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part ...

and soon enters the Spray Lakes Reservoir formed in 1951 after the construction of the ''Canyon Dam.'' At that point, the river briefly touches the

Spray Valley Provincial Park Spray Valley Provincial Park is a provincial park located east of the Rocky Mountains, along the Spray River in western Alberta, Canada. The park is part of the Kananaskis Country park system (along with Bluerock Wildland Provincial Park, Bow Val ...

before returning to Banff National Park. The river originally continued to flow north-northwest between the

Goat Range Goat Range can refer to: * Goat Range (Kananaskis) * Goat Range Provincial Park Goat Range Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. The park was established to protect unique species such as the (protected) Gerrard Rain ...

and the Sundance Range before merging with Goat Creek at the northern end of the Goat Range and eventually meeting the Bow River in the Town of Banff, just below

Bow Falls Bow Falls is a major waterfall on the Bow River, Alberta just before the junction of it and the Spray River. They are located near the Banff Springs Hotel and golf course on the left-hand side of River Road. The falls are within walking distance ...

. However since the construction of the dam the Spray River bed is mostly dry north-northwest of the Spray Lakes Reservoir as the Dam diverts most of the water towards the Spray Powerhouse in Canmore. The river regains some water from Goat Creek and other smaller tributaries before arriving at the town of Banff. Meanwhile most of the Spray River's water exits the reservoir through the secondary ''Three Sisters Dam'' where there is a small 3MW generating station. From there it immediately enters a secondary reservoir known as the ''Goat Pond'' which directs the water into a 6 kilometre long canal which includes an 800 meter tunnel though the shoulder of

Ha Ling Peak Ha Ling Peak is a peak at the northwestern end of Ehagay Nakoda — a mountain located immediately south of the town of Canmore just east of the Spray Lakes road in Alberta's Canadian Rockies. It was previously named Chinaman's Peak but t ...

. From there it enters ''White Man Pond'' before being funnelled into a penstock to the main Spray Powerhouse at Grassi Lakes. The Spray Powerhouse is the second largest conventional (non Pumped-storage) hydroelectric facility in Alberta with a capacity of 112MW. The water continues to another shorter penstock leading to the Rundle Powerhouse where an additional 50MW of generation is available. From there water is released into the Bow River. The 4 dams and three power stations are owned and operated by TransAlta. Despite the diversion being a man made canal, it is often also called the Spray River, leading to confusion as many maps mark both the diversion and the original mostly dry river bed as the Spray river. The scenic

Smith Dorrien Trail The Canadian province of Alberta has provincial highway network of nearly as of 2009, of which were paved. All of Alberta's provincial highways are maintained by Alberta Transportation (AT), a department of the Government of Alberta. The net ...

follows the Spray River diversion canal and the shore of the Spray Lakes Reservoir. Spray River just below the Three Sisters Dam

References

Rivers of Alberta Banff National Park Bow River {{Alberta-river-stub

See also

References