Moose Jaw River is a river 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 located in the southern part of the province 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 ...

. The Moose Jaw 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, ...

is one of five sub-basins that make up the Upper Qu'Appelle Watershed. Craven Dam at the village of Craven is the dividing point between the upper and lower watersheds of the Qu'Appelle River. The river and its tributaries drain a total of . The total combined drainage area for the five sub-basins of the Upper Qu'Appelle Watershed is . The Qu'Appelle River system is part of the much larger

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

The

source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute ...

of the Moose Jaw River is Ibsen Lake, which is about west of

Yellow Grass Yellow Grass is a town in southern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located in the Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, approximately northwest of Weyburn, at the junction of Highways 39 and 621. The town is located on the Canadian Pacific Railw ...

. From there, the river travels in a north-westerly direction following Highway 39 most of the way to the city of

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the List of cities in Saskatchewan, fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina, Saskatchewan, Re ...

. As the river approaches the city, it crosses Highway 339, Stelcam Weir (), Five Mile Dam (), and Highway 2 before entering Wakamow Valley Park. In the valley, the river meets Thunder Creek and then snakes its way along the southern part of the city. At the south-east corner of Moose Jaw is the Kingsway Dam. The Kingsway Dam (), which is owned and operated by the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency, is high and was built in 1948. It helps control water flows along the Moose Jaw River and creates a reservoir in Wakamow Valley Park. Upgrades were done to the dam in 1985 and, after unprecedented flooding in 2010 and 2011, significant repairs were completed. From the dam, the river heads east and then north where it meets the

Qu'Appelle River The Qu'Appelle River is a river in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba that flows east from Lake Diefenbaker in south-western Saskatchewan to join the Assiniboine River in Manitoba, just s ...

about east and downstream of Buffalo Pound Lake in the Nicolle Flats Marsh at the eastern end of

Buffalo Pound Provincial Park Buffalo Pound Provincial Park is in southern Saskatchewan, Canada, about north-east of Moose Jaw and north-west of the city of Regina. Access to the provincial park is from Highways 301 and 202. The park centres on Buffalo Pound Lake, a ...

. Several highways cross the river's path, including Highways 6,

334 __NOTOC__ Year 334 ( CCCXXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Optatus and Caesonius (or, less frequently, year 1087 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

, 623,

339 Year 339 ( CCCXXXIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Claudius (or, less frequently, year 1092 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

, 2, 1, and

301 __NOTOC__ Year 301 ( CCCI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Postumius and Nepotianus (or, less frequently, year 1054 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominatio ...

Tributaries

There are two main tributaries of the Moose Jaw River. Avonlea Creek begins near the Piapot Cree First Nation 75G and flows in a north-west direction paralleling Moose Jaw River until near the village of Avonlea where it turns north and meets Moose Jaw River about south-west of Rouleau. Along the course of Avonlea Creek is Watson Reservoir, which is about south-east of the town of Avonlea. At the north end of the reservoir is

Dunnet Regional Park Avonlea Creek is a river in the southern part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is in a region called the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, which extends throughout three Canadian provinces and five U.S. states. It is also wi ...

. The other main tributary is Thunder Creek. Thunder Creek begins near

Lake Diefenbaker Lake Diefenbaker is a reservoir and bifurcation lake in the southern part of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It was formed by the construction of the Gardiner Dam and the Qu'Appelle River Dam across ...

and travels in a south-easterly direction and meets up with the Moose Jaw River in the city of

. There are four shallow, marshy lakes, Paysen (Horfield), Kettlehut, Williams, and Pelican along Thunder Creek's course and four main tributaries, Allin Creek, Aquadell Creek, Sandy Creek, and Wilson Creek.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Rivers of Saskatchewan Tributaries of Hudson Bay Tributaries of the Assiniboine River Dams in Saskatchewan Dams completed in 1912 Dams completed in 1922 Dams completed in 1948

Course

Tributaries

See also

References

External links