Whitewater Lake is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

in the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

province of

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 ...

located between Boissevain and Deloraine. It is an

endorheic basin An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...

and more marsh than lake. Whitewater Lake was previously called White Lake due to the color of the salt flats exposed during dry periods. Whitewater Lake covers approximately 22,000 acres on average and only reaches depths of about . The lake is fed by several small streams which flow into it from the Turtle Mountains but has no natural outflow. The

alkaline lake A soda lake or alkaline lake is a lake on the strongly basic side of neutrality, typically with a pH value between 9 and 12. They are characterized by high concentrations of carbonate salts, typically sodium carbonate (and related salt complexe ...

was vulnerable to drought having dried up several times including 1857, 1913–1915, 1934-1940 and 1989–1992. In 1989

Ducks Unlimited Canada Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) is a Canadian non-profit environmental organization that works to conserve, create, restore and manage Canadian wetlands and associated uplands in order to provide healthy ecosystems that support North American wate ...

began partnering with Manitoba Conservation and other partners to enhance the sustainability of the lake, investing more than two million over the following years. Dikes and water control structures were added to the east side of the lake to ensure the permanency of the water even during dry years. As of 2016, Whitewater Lake was at a peak of 1633 ft which is five feet above the average long-term level. These high levels have seen the lake claim more farm land and resulted in significant erosion of the dike and park space structures on the lake's southeast side.

Water sources and quality

The lake is fed by eight major creeks originating from the Turtle Mountains to the south. As an endorheic basin with no natural outlet the water is considered moderately brackish. The water quality is mostly affected by

sodium sulfate Sodium sulfate (also known as sodium sulphate or sulfate of soda) is the inorganic compound with formula Na2SO4 as well as several related hydrates. All forms are white solids that are highly soluble in water. With an annual production of 6 mill ...

and

magnesium sulfate Magnesium sulfate or magnesium sulphate is a chemical compound, a salt with the formula , consisting of magnesium cations (20.19% by mass) and sulfate anions . It is a white crystalline solid, soluble in water but not in ethanol. Magnesi ...

. High winds of or above can affect lake levels on the shallow lake, with wind tides raising levels nearly one foot in the direction of the gusts and can push water inshore up to . This wind effect can devastate nesting sites in the Important Bird Area (IBA).

Whitewater Lake WMA

The Whitewater Lake Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is 8,257 hectares in size. It includes Whitewater Lake and a managed marsh east of the lake. A wildlife viewing site was developed at the southwest corner of the managed marsh cells. However high water levels between 2010-2019 led to the area being eroded and the signs and viewing sites were disassembled.

Whitewater Lake IBA

Whitewater Lake is designated a globally significant Important Bird Area (IBA) by

Bird Studies Canada Birds Canada (formerly Bird Studies Canada) is Canada's national bird conservation organization. Birds Canada began as the ''Long Point Bird Observatory'' in 1960, changing its name in 1998 to reflect the growing national scope of its research ...

because of the number of waterfowl and shorebirds that congregate there during migration. Huge numbers of waterfowl, including a significant number of

Snow geese The snow goose (''Anser caerulescens'') is a species of goose native to North America. Both white and dark morphs exist, the latter often known as blue goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. The species was previously placed ...

and

Tundra swan The tundra swan (''Cygnus columbianus'') is a small swan of the Holarctic. The two taxa within it are usually regarded as conspecific, but are also sometimes split into two species: Bewick's swan (''Cygnus bewickii'') of the Palaearctic and the w ...

s, have been observed during fall migration. The largest shorebird concentrations in southern Manitoba occur on this lake when water levels are low. In 1988, 10,000

White-rumped sandpiper The white-rumped sandpiper (''Calidris fuscicollis'') is a small shorebird that breeds in the northern tundra of Canada and Alaska. This bird can be difficult to distinguish from other similar tiny shorebirds; these are known collectively as "pee ...

s were recorded there; 2.5% of the known winter population of the species. Whitewater Lake is nationally significant as a nesting site for

Black-crowned night heron The black-crowned night heron (''Nycticorax nycticorax'') r 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 Nort ...

s with 1.7% of the estimated Canadian population for this species recorded nesting there. Other significant nesting populations include

Franklin's gull Franklin's gull (''Leucophaeus pipixcan'') is a small (length 12.6–14.2 in, 32–36 cm) gull. The genus name ''Leucophaeus'' is from Ancient Greek ''leukos'', "white", and ''phaios'', "dusky". The specific ''pipixcan'' is a Nahuatl name fo ...

s and Eared grebes.

References

External links

Whitewater LakeWhitewater Lake IBA
{{authority control Endorheic lakes of Canada Geography of the Canadian Prairies Important Bird Areas of Manitoba Lakes of Manitoba Protected areas of Manitoba Wildlife management areas of Manitoba