Dragline Channel is a man-made

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Australia in Queensland and pa ...

in 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 ...

. Originally built by the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

in the 1930s, it connects the Old

Saskatchewan River The Saskatchewan River (Cree: , "swift flowing river") is a major river in Canada. It stretches about from where it is formed by the joining of the North Saskatchewan River and South Saskatchewan River just east of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan ...

Channel to Cut Beaver River at the western end of the Cumberland Marshes. Cut Beaver is a tributary of the Birch River, which in turn is a tributary of the Carrot River. The Dragline Channel connects the Saskatchewan River to the Carrot River watershed. The Carrot River joins the Saskatchewan River downstream, just west of

The Pas The Pas ( , ) is a town in Manitoba, Canada, at the confluence of the Pasquia River and the Saskatchewan River and surrounded by the unorganized Northern Region of the province. It is approximately northwest of the provincial capital, Winn ...

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 ...

History

In the 1930s, the Hudson's Bay Company leased from the Saskatchewan government in the Cumberland Marshes. The Cumberland Marshes, also known as the Saskatchewan River Delta, is one of the largest inland deltas in North America. The lease was bounded by the Dragline Channel on the west, Old Saskatchewan River Channel on the north, Birch River on the south, and the Manitoba border on the east. The channel was constructed as part of a greater project by the Hudson's Bay Company to control water levels in the marsh to increase wildlife, specifically the

muskrat The muskrat or common muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands over various climates ...

for the

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

. The project involved the building of a dam on the Birch River (downstream from Cut Beaver River), the building of Dragline Channel to supply the water, and a series of ditches and small water control structures within the system to distribute the water. In 1960, with the fur trade no longer economically viable enough to justify the upkeep and the needed upgrades to the system, the Hudson's Bay Company gave

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 ...

a 15-year lease over the land. The first thing Ducks Unlimited did was build a major control structure farther downstream on the Birch River, which greatly increased the stored water volume. Ducks Unlimited then built a structure on Dragline Channel to regulate water flows. In 1975, when the 15-year lease expired, the Hudson's Bay Company surrendered the lease rights to Ducks Unlimited, at which point Ducks Unlimited entered into an agreement with the province of Saskatchewan to maintain the land.

Dragline Channel Recreation Site

Dragline Channel Recreation Site () is a provincial recreation site at the spot where Dragline Channel connects to the Saskatchewan River. The small park has free camping and access to the river and channel. Access to the site is from Highway 123.

References

{{Authority control Saskatchewan River Bodies of water of Saskatchewan

History

Dragline Channel Recreation Site

See also

References