The Shellmouth Reservoir (also known as Lake of the Prairies) is a man-made
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 ...
on the
Assiniboine River
The Assiniboine River (''; french: Rivière Assiniboine'') is a river that runs through the prairies of Western Canada in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It is a tributary of the Red River of the North, Red River. The Assiniboine is a typical meand ...
in
Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
and
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 ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
The Shellmouth Dam () is a multi-purpose,
embankment dam
An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface and ...
built by the
Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration The Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) was a branch under Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), a department of the Federal Government of Canada.
The Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration was established by an Act of Parliam ...
(PFRA).
The dam and reservoir are part of a strategy to reduce the risk of flood damage for
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
and other communities along the Assiniboine River.
For example, in the
1997 Red River flood
The Red River flood of 1997 was a major flood that occurred in April and May 1997 along the Red River of the North in Minnesota, North Dakota, and southern Manitoba. It was the most severe flood of the river since 1826. The flood reached through ...
, the
inflow
Inflow may refer to:
* Inflow (hydrology), the water entering a body of water
* Inflow (meteorology)
Inflow is the flow of a fluid into a large collection of that fluid. Within meteorology, inflow normally refers to the influx of warmth and moi ...
to the reservoir peaked at while the outflow never exceeded .
The reservoir is also used to supplement flows on the Assiniboine when conditions are dry, ensuring water supply for
Brandon
Brandon may refer to:
Names and people
*Brandon (given name), a male given name
*Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins
Places
Australia
*Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales
*Brandon, Q ...
,
Portage la Prairie
Portage la Prairie () is a small city in the Central Plains Region of Manitoba, Canada. As of 2016, the population was 13,304 and the land area of the city was .
Portage la Prairie is approximately west of Winnipeg, along the Trans-Canada Hig ...
, irrigators, and some industries. For example in early August, 2021 the flow in Brandon was a little over 9 cms while the outflow from Shellmouth was 5.7 cms and inflow was less than 0.5 cms. Therefore without the dam the flow in the Assiniboine at Brandon would be a bit under 4 cms.
Asessippi Provincial Park
Asessippi Provincial Park is a provincial park in the Rural Municipality of Riding Mountain West, Manitoba, Canada.
It is located near Inglis, Manitoba, about west of Dauphin, and is in size. A campground on the south shore of the Shellmouth ...
is established around the southern arm of the lake.
Specifications
The dam is high and long.
The reservoir is in length and stores 390,000 acre feet (480 million cubic metres) at the spillway crest level of .
Outflows are controlled by a gated conduit and a wide concrete chute
spillway
A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...
. The normal summer level target is between and .
Fish species
Fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...
species include
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 ...
,
yellow perch
The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samu ...
,
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 ...
,
mooneye
Hiodontidae, commonly called mooneyes, is a family of ray-finned fish with a single included genus ''Hiodon''. The genus comprise two living species native to North America and three to five extinct species recorded from Paleocene to Eocene age ...
,
burbot
The burbot (''Lota lota'') is the only gadiform (cod-like) freshwater fish
Freshwater fish are those that spend some or all of their lives in fresh water, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 1.05%. These environments di ...
,
rock bass
The rock bass (''Ambloplites rupestris''), also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, and black perch, is a freshwater fish native to east-central North America. This red eyed creature is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish fa ...
,
brown bullhead
The brown bullhead (''Ameiurus nebulosus'') is a fish of the family Ictaluridae that is widely distributed in North America. It is a species of bullhead catfish and is similar to the black bullhead (''Ameiurus melas'') and yellow bullhead (''Ame ...
,
white sucker
The white sucker (''Catostomus commersonii)'' is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is commonl ...
,
shorthead redhorse
The shorthead redhorse (''Moxostoma macrolepidotum'') is a wide-ranging species in North America. The shorthead redhorse is native to central and eastern North America. However, its range has expanded to include areas like the Hudson estuary and ...
and
common carp
The Eurasian carp or European carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Arkive The ...
. Rock bass are Saskatchewan's only native bass.
Gallery
File:ShellmouthDamSign.JPG, Shellmouth Dam sign
File:LakeofthePrairies1.JPG, Lake of the Prairies from the Shellmouth Dam
File:SDControlStructure.JPG, Shellmouth Dam Control Structure
File:ShellmouthSpillway.JPG, Shellmouth Dam Spillway
See also
*
List of lakes of Saskatchewan
This is a list of lakes of Saskatchewan, a province of Canada. The largest and most notable lakes are listed at the start, followed by an alphabetical listing of other lakes of the province.
Larger lake statistics
"The total area of a lak ...
*
Portage Diversion
The Portage Diversion () (also known as the Assiniboine River Floodway) is a water control structure on the Assiniboine River near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada. The project was made as part of a larger attempt to prevent flooding in the R ...
(Assiniboine River Floodway)
*
Red River Floodway
The Red River Floodway (french: Canal de dérivation de la rivière Rouge) is an artificial flood control waterway in Western Canada. It is a long channel which, during flood periods, takes part of the Red River's flow around the city of Winn ...
References
External links
Lake of the Prairies Conservation DistrictFish Species of Saskatchewan{{authority control
Assiniboine River
Cote No. 271, Saskatchewan
Lakes of Manitoba
Flood control projects
Bodies of water of Parkland Region, Manitoba