Lake Winnipeg (french: Lac Winnipeg, oj, ᐑᓂᐸᑲᒥᐠᓴᑯ˙ᑯᐣ, italics=no, Weenipagamiksaguygun) is a very large, relatively shallow

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in North America, in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

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 ...

. Its southern end is about north of the city of

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, ...

. Lake Winnipeg is Canada's sixth-largest freshwater lake and the third-largest freshwater lake contained entirely within Canada, but it is relatively shallow (mean depth of ) excluding a narrow deep channel between the northern and southern basins. It is the eleventh-largest freshwater lake on Earth. The lake's east side has pristine boreal forests and rivers that were in 2018 inscribed as Pimachiowin Aki, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The lake is from north to south, with remote sandy beaches, large limestone cliffs, and many

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...

caves in some areas.

Manitoba Hydro The Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board, operating as Manitoba Hydro, is the electric power and natural gas utility in the province of Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1961, it is a provincial Crown Corporation, governed by the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Boa ...

uses the lake as one of the largest reservoirs in the world. There are many islands, most of them undeveloped. The Sagkeeng First Nation holds a reserve on Turtle Island, in the southern part of the lake. The

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawat ...

people have been in this area for thousands of years, long before European settlers.

Hydrography

Lake Winnipeg has the largest watershed of any lake in Canada, receiving water from four

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

s: (

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

and

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

via tributaries of the Red River,

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

via rivers draining into Lake Traverse, and

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 Columb ...

via tributaries of the Oldman River) and four Canadian provinces (

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in 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 the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

). The lake's watershed measures about . Its drainage is about 40 times larger than its surface, a ratio bigger than any other large lake in the world. Lake Winnipeg drains northward into the

Nelson River The Nelson River is a river of north-central North America, in the Canadian province of Manitoba. The river drains Lake Winnipeg and runs before it ends in Hudson Bay. Its full length (including the Saskatchewan River and Bow River) is , i ...

at an average annual rate of 2,066 cubic metres per second (72,960 cu ft/s) and forms part of the Hudson Bay watershed, which is one of the largest drainage basins in the world. This watershed area was known as

Rupert's Land Rupert's Land (french: Terre de Rupert), or Prince Rupert's Land (french: Terre du Prince Rupert, link=no), was a territory in British North America which comprised the Hudson Bay drainage basin; this was further extended from Rupert's Land t ...

when the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

was chartered in 1670.

Tributaries

The

Saskatchewan River The Saskatchewan River (Cree: ''kisiskāciwani-sīpiy'', "swift flowing river") is a major river in Canada. It stretches about from where it is formed by the joining together of the North Saskatchewan and South Saskatchewan Rivers to Lake Winn ...

flows in from the west through Cedar Lake, the Red River (including Assiniboine River) flows in from the south, and the

Winnipeg River The Winnipeg River is a Canadian river that flows roughly northwest from Lake of the Woods in the province of Ontario to Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba. This river is long from the Norman Dam in Kenora to its mouth at Lake Winnipeg. Its watershed is ...

(draining Lake of the Woods, Rainy River and

Rainy Lake Rainy Lake ( French: '; Ojibwe: ') is a freshwater lake with a surface area of that straddles the border between the United States and Canada. The Rainy River issues from the west side of the lake and is harnessed to make hydroelectricity for ...

) enters from the southeast. The Dauphin River enters from the west, draining Lake Manitoba and

Lake Winnipegosis Lake Winnipegosis is a large (5,370 km2) lake in central North America, in Manitoba, Canada, some 300 km northwest of Winnipeg. It is Canada's eleventh-largest lake. An alternate spelling, once common but now rare, is Lake Winipigoos or ...

. The Bloodvein River,

Berens River The Berens River is a river in the provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, Canada. It flows west from an unnamed lake in Kenora District, Ontario, and discharges its waters into Lake Winnipeg near the community and First Nation of Berens River, Manit ...

, Poplar River and the Manigotagan River flow in from the eastern side of the lake which is within the Canadian Shield. Other tributaries of Lake Winnipeg (clockwise from the south end) include; Meleb Drain (drainage canal), Drunken River, Icelandic River, Washow Bay Creek, Sugar Creek, Beaver Creek, Mill Creek, Moose Creek, Fisher River, Jackhead River, Kinwow Bay Creek, Jackpine Creek, Mantagao River, Solomons Creek, Jumping Creek, Warpath River, South Two Rivers, North Two Rivers, South Twin Creek, North Twin Creek, Saskachaywiak Creek, Eating Point Creek, Woody Point Creeks, Muskwa Creek, Buffalo Creek, Fiddler Creek, Sturgeon Creek, Hungry River, Cypress Creek, William River, Bélanger River, Mukutawa River, Crane Creek, Kapawekapuk Creek, Marchand Creek, Leaf River, Pigeon River, Taskapekawe Creek, Bradbury River, Petopeko Creek, Loon Creek, Sanders Creek, Rice River, Wanipigow River, Barrie Creek, Mutch Creek, Sandy River, Black River, Sandy Creek, Catfish Creek, Jackfish Creek, Marais Creek, Brokenhead River and Devils Creek.

Geology

Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba are remnants of prehistoric Glacial Lake Agassiz, although there is evidence of a desiccated south basin of Lake Winnipeg approximately 4,000 years ago. The area between the lakes is called the Interlake Region, and the whole region is called the Manitoba Lowlands.

Natural history

Fish

The varying habitats found within the lake support a large number of fish species, more than any other lake in Canada west of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

. Sixty of seventy-nine native species found in Manitoba are present in the lake. Families represented include lampreys (

Petromyzontidae The northern lampreys (Petromyzontidae) are a family of lampreys. Northern lampreys have the highest number of chromosomes (164–174) among vertebrates. Genera * '' Caspiomyzon'' * '' Entosphenus'' * ''Eudontomyzon'' * ''Ichthyomyzon'' * ''La ...

), sturgeon ( Acipenseridae), mooneyes ( Hiodontidae), minnows ( Cyprinidae), suckers (

Catostomidae The Catostomidae are the suckers of the order Cypriniformes, with about 78 species in this family of freshwater fishes. The Catostomidae are almost exclusively native to North America. The only exceptions are '' Catostomus catostomus,'' found in ...

), catfish (

Ictaluridae The Ictaluridae, sometimes called ictalurids, are a family of catfish native to North America, where they are an important food source and sometimes fished for sport. The family includes about 51 species, some commonly known as bullheads, madt ...

), pike (

Esocidae Esocidae is a family of fish in the order Esociformes, which contains pike, pickerel, and mudminnows. While the family traditionally only contained the genus ''Esox'', recent genetic and paleontological research have recovered ''Novumbra'' and ' ...

), trout and whitefish (

Salmonidae Salmonidae is a family of ray-finned fish that constitutes the only currently extant family in the order Salmoniformes . It includes salmon (both Atlantic and Pacific species), trout (both ocean-going and landlocked), chars, freshwater whitefis ...

), troutperch ( Percopsidae), codfish (

Gadidae The Gadidae are a family of marine fish, included in the order Gadiformes, known as the cods, codfishes, or true cods. It contains several commercially important fishes, including the cod, haddock, whiting, and pollock. Most gadid species ...

), sticklebacks ( Gasterosteidae), sculpins ( Cottidae), sunfish ( Centrarchidae), perch ( Percidae), and drum (

Sciaenidae Sciaenidae are a family of fish in the order Acanthuriformes. They are commonly called drums or croakers in reference to the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make. The family consists of about 286 to 298 species in about 66 to 70 gene ...

). Two fish species present in the lake are considered to be at risk, the shortjaw cisco and the bigmouth buffalo. Rainbow trout and brown trout are stocked in Manitoba waters by provincial fisheries as part of a put and take program to support angling opportunities. Neither species is able to sustain itself independently in Manitoba. Smallmouth bass was first recorded from the lake in 2002, indicating populations introduced elsewhere in the watershed are now present in the lake. White bass were first recorded from the lake in 1963, ten years after being introduced into Lake Ashtabula in North Dakota. Common carp were introduced to the lake through the

Red River of the North The Red River (french: rivière Rouge or ) is a river in the north-central United States and central Canada. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota, it fl ...

and are firmly established.

Birds

Lake Winnipeg provides feeding and nesting sites for a wide variety of birds associated with water during the summer months. Isolated, uninhabited islands provide nesting sites for colonial nesting birds including pelicans, gulls and terns. Large marshes, shores and shallows allow these birds to successfully feed themselves and their young. Pipestone Rocks are considered a globally significant site for American white pelicans. In 1998, an estimated 3.7% of the world's population of this bird at the time were counted nesting on the rocky outcrops. The same site is significant within North America for the numbers of colonial waterbirds using the area, especially

Common tern The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migrator ...

s. Other globally significant nesting areas are found at Gull Island and Sandhill Island, Little George Island and Louis Island. Birds nesting at these sites include Common and

Caspian tern The Caspian tern (''Hydroprogne caspia'') is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no accepted subspecies. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ' ...

s, Herring gull,

Ring-billed gull The ring-billed gull (''Larus delawarensis'') is a medium-sized gull. The genus name is from Latin ''Larus'' which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific ''delawarensis'' refers to the Delaware River. Description ...

, Double-crested cormorant and

Greater scaup The greater scaup (''Aythya marila''), just scaup in Europe or, colloquially, "bluebill" in North America, is a mid-sized diving duck, larger than the closely related lesser scaup. It spends the summer months breeding in Alaska, northern Canad ...

. Lake Winnipeg has two sites considered globally important in the fall migration. Large populations of waterfowl and shorebirds use the sand bars east of Riverton as a staging area for fall migration. The Netley-Libau Marsh, where the Red River enters Lake Winnipeg, is used by geese, ducks and swallows to gather for the southward migration. Piping Plovers, an endangered species of shorebird, are found in several locations around the lake. The Gull Bay Spits, south of the town of Grand Rapids are considered nationally significant nesting sites for this species.

Protected areas

* Beaver Creek Provincial Park *

Camp Morton Provincial Park Camp Morton Provincial Park is a provincial park located on the west shore of Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada, about north of Gimli. It is in size. It was designated as a provincial park in 1974. The park is located in the Gimli eco-distric ...

Elk Island Provincial Park Elk Island Provincial Park is a provincial park in Manitoba, Canada. The park is in size, and is considered to be a Class III protected area under the IUCN protected area management categories. History Elk Island Provincial Park was designa ...

Fisher Bay Provincial Park Fisher Bay Provincial Park is located along the western shore of Lake Winnipeg near the mouth of the Fisher River. It was designated as a provincial park by the Government of Manitoba in 2011. The park is in size. The park is considered to be ...

Grand Beach Provincial Park Grand Beach Provincial Park is a provincial park in Manitoba, Canada, noted for its large white sand dunes and ancient beaches from the end of the last ice age. It is located on the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg, one of the largest freshwater l ...

* Hecla-Grindstone Provincial Park *

Hnausa Beach Provincial Park Hnausa Beach Provincial Park is a provincial park in Manitoba, Canada, on the west shore of Lake Winnipeg north of Gimli, Manitoba. The beach within the park is named after the nearby community of Hnausa. ''Hnausa'' is an Old Icelandic word for ...

* Kinwow Provincial Park *

Patricia Beach Provincial Park Patricia Beach Provincial Park is a provincial park on the south-east shore of Balsam Bay on Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada. The park is located within the Rural Municipality of St. Clements and can be accessed by road from Manitoba Provinci ...

* Sturgeon Bay Provincial Park * Winnipeg Beach Provincial Park

Environmental issues

Lake Winnipeg is suffering from many

environmental issues Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...

such as an explosion in the population of algae, caused by excessive amounts of phosphorus seeping into the lake, therefore not absorbing enough nitrogen. The phosphorus levels are approaching a point that could be dangerous for human health. The

Global Nature Fund Global Nature Fund, established in 1998, is a private non-profit foundation with the stated goal of protecting the environment. It is headquartered in Radolfzell, Germany. The organization, which sponsors the Living Lakes Network, marks World Wet ...

declared Lake Winnipeg as the "threatened lake of the year" in 2013. In 2015, there was a major uptick of

zebra mussels The zebra mussel (''Dreissena polymorpha'') is a small freshwater mussel. The species originates from the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine, but has been accidentally introduced to numerous other areas and has become an invasive species in ma ...

in Lake Winnipeg, the reduction of which is next to impossible because of a lack of natural predators in the lake. The mussels are devastating to the ecological opportunities of the lake.

History

It is believed Henry Kelsey was the first European to see the lake, in 1690. He adopted the Cree language name for the lake: (), meaning "muddy waters". La Vérendrye referred to the lake as ''Ouinipigon'' when he built the first forts in the area in the 1730s. Later, the

Red River Colony The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement), also known as Assinboia, was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on of land in British North America. This land was granted to Douglas by the Hudson's Bay ...

to its south took the lake's name for Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba. Lake Winnipeg lies along one of the oldest trading routes in North America to have flown the British flag. For several centuries, furs were traded along this route between York Factory on Hudson Bay''Fur Trade Canoe Routes of Canada/ Then and Now'' by Eric W. Morse Canada National and Historic Parks Branch, first printing 1969. (which was the long-time headquarters for the Hudson's Bay Company) over Lake Winnipeg and the Red River Trails to the confluence of the

and

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

s at

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

. This was a strategic trading route for the First British Empire. With the establishment of the Second British Empire after Britain's loss of the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th cent ...

, a significant increase in trade occurred over Lake Winnipeg between Rupert's Land and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. In 2016 the Indigenous place name ''Weenipagamiksaguygun'' was approved by the Geographical Names Board of Canada. It is an Anishinaabe name for the lake as used by the Poplar River First Nation.

Economy

Transportation

Because of its length, the Lake Winnipeg water system and the lake was an important transportation route in the province before the railways reached Manitoba. It continued to be a major transportation route even after the railways reached the province. In addition to aboriginal canoes and York boats, several steamboats plied the lake, including ''

Anson Northup ''Anson Northup'' (possibly ''Anson Northrup'') was a sternwheel riverboat named for her captain who was the first to navigate the Red River of the North from Fort Abercrombie, Dakota Territory, to Fort Garry, Rupert's Land, departing 6 June a ...

'', '' City of Selkirk'', '' Colvile'', '' Keenora'', '' Premier'', ''

Princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subs ...

'', '' Winnitoba'', '' Wolverine'' and most recently the diesel-powered '' MS Lord Selkirk II'' passenger cruise ship.

Communities

Communities on the lake include Grand Marais, Lester Beach, Riverton, Gimli, Winnipeg Beach, Victoria Beach, Hillside beach, Pine Falls, Manigotagan,

, Bloodvein, Sandy Hook, Albert Beach, Hecla Village and Grand Rapids. A number of pleasure beaches are found on the southern end of the lake, which are popular in the summer, attracting many visitors from Winnipeg, about 80 km south. Gimli Manitoba Canada Panorama

Commercial fisheries

Lake Winnipeg has important commercial fisheries. Its catch makes up a major part of Manitoba's $30 million per year fishing industry. The lake was once the main source of goldeye in Canada, which is why the fish is sometimes called Winnipeg goldeye.

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 ...

and whitefish together account for over 90 percent of its commercial fishing.

Citations

General and cited references

* Canadian Action Party (2006)
Canadian action party release Devils Lake ruling
* Casey, A. (November/December 2006). "Forgotten lake", Canadian Geographic, Vol. 126, Issue 6, pp. 62–78 * Chliboyko, J. (November/December 2003). "Trouble flows north", Canadian Geographic, Vol. 123, Issue 6, p. 23 * "Devil down south" (16 July 2005), ''The Economist'', Vol. 376, Issue 8435,. p. 34 * GreenPeace,
Algae bloom on Lake Winnipeg
(26 May 2008). Retrieved 2 February 2009 * ''Daily Commercial News and Construction Record'', "Ottawa asked to help block water diversion project: Devils Lake outlet recommended by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers" (20 October 2003), Vol. 76, Issue 198,. p. 3 *Sexton, B. (2006) "Wastes control: Manitoba demands more scrutiny of North Dakota’s water diversion scheme", Outdoor Canada, Vol. 34, Issue 1, p. 32 * Warrington, Dr. P. (6 November 2001)

" * Welch, M. A. (19 August 2008) "Winnipeg’s algae invasion was forewarned more than 30 years ago", The Canadian Press * Macleans (14 June 2004) "What ails Lake Winnipeg" Vol. 117, Issue 24, p. 38. * Wilderness Committee (2008)
Turning the tide on Lake Winnipeg and our health
* Canadian Geographical Names Database (2016)
Place names - Weenipagamiksaguygun

External links

"Lake Winnipeg"
''The Canadian Encyclopedia''
Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium

Sail Lake Winnipeg
{{Authority control Bodies of water of Eastman Region, Manitoba Hudson's Bay Company trading posts

Winnipeg, Lake