Coquitlam Lake is a
reservoir
A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation.
Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...
located just north of
Coquitlam
Coquitlam ( ) is a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly suburban, Coquitlam is the List of cities in British Columbia, sixth-largest city in the province, with an estimated population of 174,248 in 2024, and one of th ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
. It is one of the three main water sources for
Metro Vancouver
The Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), or simply Metro Vancouver, is a Canadian political subdivision and Corporation, corporate entity representing the metropolitan area of Greater Vancouver, designated by provincial legislation as o ...
, and part of the
Coquitlam watershed. It is also a part of
BC Hydro
The British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, trade name, operating as BC Hydro, is a Canadian electric utility in the province of British Columbia. It is the main electricity distributor, serving more than 4 million customers in most areas, wi ...
's power generation system. A tunnel directs water from the lake to nearby
Buntzen Lake, and from there to a pair of power stations.
History
Construction of the tunnel between Coquitlam Lake and Buntzen Lake began in 1902 and finished in 1905, supplying water to powerhouses on
Indian Arm, which supplied electricity to Vancouver.
[Will Koop]
Coquitlam Watershed History
Retrieved on 22 February 2009
The first
Coquitlam Dam, built to raise the water level by , was begun in April 1904 and completed in 1905. It was built to protect the water supply to the powerhouses, and also supplied water to
New Westminster
New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the cap ...
.
By 1906 the original dam was discovered to be leaking, and while repairs were made the leak continued through 1908, until the current dam was completed in 1914.
There is a glacier in the watershed of the reservoir, Coquitlam Glacier, which is the only glacier in Metro Vancouver. It formed during the
Little Ice Age
The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939. Mat ...
and is shrinking as the last Ice Age ends and, potentially, due to the effects of
climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
. It is expected to melt by 2050.
Climate
See also
*
List of lakes of British Columbia
This is an incomplete list of lakes of British Columbia, a province of Canada.
Larger lake statistics
*
List of lakes
1
*101 Mile Lake
*103 Mile Lake
*105 Mile Lake
*108 Mile Lake
A
*Adams Lake
*Albreda Lake
*Alouette Lake
*Alic ...
References
External links
Coquitlam Lake at BCGNIS
{{Coquitlam
Landforms of Coquitlam
Lakes of the Lower Mainland
Reservoirs in British Columbia
New Westminster Land District