Emma Lake is a recreational lake 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 ...

. It is near the southern limit of the

boreal forest Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by pinophyta, coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. I ...

, about north of

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Alb ...

. The lake is within the

District of Lakeland No. 521 The District of Lakeland No. 521 ( 2016 population: ) is a rural municipality (RM) in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within Census Division No. 15 and Division No. 5. History The RM of Lakeland No. 521 was originally incorporated ...

and east of

Prince Albert National Park Prince Albert National Park encompasses in central Saskatchewan, Canada and is about north of Saskatoon. Though declared a National parks of Canada, national park March 24, 1927, official opening ceremonies weren't performed by Prime Ministe ...

. Much of the northern half of the lake is within the

Great Blue Heron Provincial Park Great Blue Heron Provincial Park is a recreational park in the central region of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in the boreal forest ecozone of Canada. It is adjacent to the eastern boundary of Prince Albert National Park, about north ...

. There are several small communities and recreational opportunities around Emma Lake and is from Highways 953,

952 Year 952 (Roman numerals, CMLII) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – At the Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire), Reichstag in Augsburg (assembled by King Otto I (Holy Roman ...

, and

263 __NOTOC__ Year 263 (Roman numerals, CCLXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Albinus and Dexter (or, less frequently, year 1016 ''Ab urbe condita''). The ...

Description

Emma Lake is in the Spruce River

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

. The Spruce River is a tributary of the

North Saskatchewan River The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows event ...

. The lake consists of three main sections that are connected by narrow

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

s. The northern section is mostly within Great Blue Heron Provincial Park and includes Fairy Island Wildlife Refuge () and the small community of

Okema Beach Okema Beach is a hamlet in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is located on the shore of Emma Lake adjacent to Great Blue Heron Provincial Park. See also *List of communities in Saskatchewan Communities in the province of Saskatc ...

. Cattle Island separates the northern section from the central one and Murray Point and McPhail Cove are found there. The strait at McIntosh Point separates the central section from the southern one. The southern section consists of Munsons and Sunset Bays and numerous communities, including Neis Beach, Emma Lake, Guise Beach, and Sunnyside Beach. Montreal Creek is the primary natural inflow while Emma Lake diversion from

Anglin Lake Anglin Lake is a reservoir in the boreal forest ecozone in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is east of the Prince Albert National Park in the central part of the province in the District of Lakeland No. 521. Access to the lake is from ...

is the greatest by volume inflow. Prior to the completion of the diversion, neither Emma nor neighbouring

Christopher Lake Christopher Lake ( 2016 population: ) is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the District of Lakeland No. 521 and Census Division No. 15. The village lies in the boreal forest of central Saskatchewan, 2 km south and ...

were connected to the Spruce River.

Emma Lake diversion

Anglin The Anglin () is a long river in the Creuse, Indre and Vienne departments in central France. Its source is near Azerables. It flows generally northwest. It is a right tributary of the Gartempe The Gartempe () is a French river, long. It is ...

, Emma, and Christopher Lakes historically have experienced extreme variations in seasonal water levels. To help alleviate this, with the construction of

Spruce River Dam Spruce River, also called Little Red River, is a river in the north-central region of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It begins in the Waskesiu Hills in Prince Albert National Park and flows generally in a southward direction through b ...

in 1960, the Emma Lake diversion was constructed from Anglin Lake to Emma Lake. The long diversion channel begins at a pumphouse about north-east of Spruce River Dam on Anglin Lake. Water is lifted up at a maximum rate of per second through a long pipeline into Gladys Lake. From there, the water uses gravity to travel through ditches, natural channels, and Blanche and Mae Lakes en route to the northern end of Emma Lake. The diversion channel went into operation on 23 June 1961 and, within a few years, Emma Lake water levels rose above 1960 levels. Annually, about is pumped into Emma Lake. The Emma Lake diversion project also included the construction of the Christopher Lake diversion. The first part of the Christopher Lake diversion is a short channel connects Emma Lake near Neis Beach to Christopher Lake at Clearsand Beach. The diversion opened in 1965 and, a few years later, water levels in Christopher Lake rose from 1960 levels. Controlling the outflow from Emma Lake is a grated

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe (fluid conveyance), pipe, reinforced concrete or other materia ...

control structure through Highway 953. At the southern end of Christopher Lake is the second part of the Christopher Lake diversion project. It was the final phase of the diversion project and it involved constructing the lake's outflow at Christopher Creek. Christopher Creek is a partially natural run and partially constructed channel that flows south from Christopher Lake near the village of

to the Spruce River south of the Little Red River Indian Reserve. Water flowing into Christopher Creek is controlled by a two-bay log-stop structure which controls flow into two culverts. The structure allows drawdown of both Emma and Christopher Lakes simultaneously. This final phase of the project wasn't completed until 1975.

Fish species

Fish commonly found in Emma Lake include

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 ...

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 ...

white sucker The white sucker (''Catostomus commersonii'') is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is common ...

, 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 ...

References

External links

Emma Lake Recreation Site
{{Authority control Lakeland No. 521, Saskatchewan Lakes of Saskatchewan Division No. 15, Saskatchewan