Conestogo Lake is an

artificial 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 t ...

on the

Conestogo River The Conestogo River is a river in Waterloo Region and Wellington County in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The river was named by Mennonite settlers after the Conestoga River in Pennsylvania. In the 1800s there were several different spellings of ...

in Wellington County in

Southwestern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. It is a reservoir with a flood control dam, and covers approximately . 398 cottage lots are located around the lake. Fishing is permitted in the lake and the catch may include: perch, walleye, crappie, and smallmouth bass. A recreational fishing licence is required for legal fishing in Ontario.

History

Flood control measures had been first used in the 1890s and also by the construction of the Shand Dam that gave form to Lake Belwood in 1942, but a long-term solution was still needed. The dam was proposed by the then Grand River Conservation Commission in 1952, but construction did not begin until 1955 due to local disputes,

Hurricane Hazel Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest, second-costliest, and most intense hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed at least 469 people in Haiti before it struck the United States near the border between North and Sou ...

and lack of government funding during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. Construction of the dam was completed in late 1957 (roadwork and other items not relating to the dam control were completed afterwards) and officially opened in October 1958.

Impact

Besides lessened flooding the dam resulted in a number of roads cut off. Two roads were rerouted: * Wellington County Road 11 was rerouted around dam north of Wellington County Road 45 with former section south of damn now called Sailing Club Road * Leslie Lane is rerouted via Wellington County Road 3, 5 and 10 over two sections A few roads are now severed and some with sections with different names: * Side Road 15 is severed with no rerouting or renaming * Selinger Road west of dam and 4 Line east of the dam * Concession Road 6 west of dam and 6 Line east of dam Land was also lost with areas now underwater. While impact was minimal to Quarindale and Kumpfville, parts of the former village of Hollen are now underwater.

Conestogo Lake Conservation Area

Conestogo Lake Conservation Area is a recreation area located at the south end of Conestogo Lake near the community of Glen Allan and managed by the

Grand River Conservation Authority The Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) is a conservation authority in Ontario, Canada. It operates under the Conservation Authorities Act of Ontario. It is a corporate body, through which municipalities, landowners and other organizatio ...

. Most activities involve use of the lake and during non-winter months. The conservation area hosts snowmobile trails during the winter months when snow is present. Access to the facility is made via Wellington County Road 11.

References

{{authority control Lakes of Ontario