Avonlea Creek is a river in the southern part of the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. It is in a region called the

Prairie Pothole Region The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is an expansive area of the northern Great Plains that contains thousands of shallow wetlands known as potholes. These potholes are the result of glacier activity in the Wisconsin glaciation The Wisconsin gl ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, which extends throughout three Canadian provinces and five

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 so ...

s. It is also within

Palliser's Triangle Palliser's Triangle (), or the Palliser Triangle, is a semi-arid steppe occupying a substantial portion of the Western Canadian Canadian Prairies, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba, within the Great Plains region. While initially determined to be ...

and the

Great Plains ecoregion The ecology of the Great Plains is diverse, largely owing to their great size. Differences in rainfall, elevation, and latitude create a variety of habitats including short-grass prairie, short grass, mixed-grass prairie, mixed grass, and tall-gras ...

. Avonlea Creek is a main tributary of the

Moose Jaw River Moose Jaw River is a river in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is located in the southern part of the province in a region called the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, which extends througho ...

, which is part of the Upper Qu'Appelle Watershed and the

Hudson Bay drainage basin The Hudson Bay drainage basin is the drainage basin in northern North America where surface water empties into the Hudson Bay and adjoining waters. Spanning an area of about and with a mean discharge of about , the basin is almost entirely wi ...

Course

Avonlea Creek begins at Piapot Cree First Nation 75G, about south-east of the intersection of

Highway 6 Route 6, or Highway 6, may refer to routes in the following countries: International * AH6 (highway), Asian Highway 6 * European route E6 * European route E006 Albania * :de:Nationalstraße 6 (Albanien), National Road SH6 Argentina * P ...

and Highway 712. From there, it travels in a north-westerly direction past

Parry Parry may refer to: People * Parry (surname) * Parry (given name) Fictional characters * Parry, protagonist of the movie ''The Fisher King'', played by Robin Williams * Parry in the series '' Incarnations of Immortality'' by Piers Anthony * ...

, paralleling the Moose Jaw River until it empties into the Watson Reservoir, south-east of the village of Avonlea. From the reservoir, the river heads north until it meets the Moose Jaw River near Rouleau. The headwaters of the river are in the

Missouri Coteau The Missouri Coteau, or Missouri Plateau, () is a large plateau that stretches along the eastern side of the valley of the Missouri River in central North Dakota and north-central South Dakota in the United States. In the Canadian provinces of Sa ...

and

The Dirt Hills The Dirt Hills and neighbouring Cactus Hills, are an arcuate moraine and the largest Push moraine, glacial push in the world. The hills were formed during the deglaciation of the Last Glacial Period, last ice age over 10,000 years ago. They ar ...

to the west are the source of several tributaries.

Watson Reservoir

Reg Watson Reservoir, also known as Avonlea Reservoir (), was created with the building of Avonlea Dam between 1963 and 1964 across Avonlea Creek. The dam was originally 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 ...

and is now operated by the

Saskatchewan Water Security Agency The Saskatchewan Water Security Agency (before 2013, the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority) is an arm's length organization responsible for the management of water resources to ensure safe drinking water sources and reliable water supplies for eco ...

. The dam is high and the reservoir holds of water and has a surface area of . It is about south-east of Avonlea and is the source of water for the village. The dam was upgraded in 2003. The reservoir is stocked every second year with fish.

Northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...

burbot The burbot (''Lota lota''), also known as bubbot, mariah, loche, cusk, freshwater cod, freshwater ling, freshwater cusk, the lawyer, coney-fish, lingcod, or eelpout, is a species of coldwater ray-finned fish native to the subarctic regions of ...

, and

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samuel Latham Mitchill fr ...

are found in the lake and there are several boat launches around the lake for access.

Dunnet Regional Park

Dunnet Regional Park (), built in 1967, is a

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distr ...

located on the west side of Reg Watson Reservoir. It was named after a local

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

. The park consists of 50 acres in a naturally treed valley and features RV parking, camping, fishing, boating, mini golf, a heated swimming pool, and eight baseball diamonds. To the north of the park, along the west bank of Avonlea Creek, is an 18-hole championship

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

called Long Creek Golf & Country Club.

References

{{Authority control Rivers of Saskatchewan Tributaries of Hudson Bay Tributaries of the Assiniboine River Dams completed in 1964 Dams in Saskatchewan

Course

Watson Reservoir

Dunnet Regional Park

See also

References