Williston 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 ...

created by the W. A. C. Bennett Dam which is located in the

Northern Interior of British Columbia Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

, Canada.

Geography

The lake fills the basin of the upper

Peace River The Peace River () is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in the Peace-Athabasca Delta to form the ...

, backing into the

Rocky Mountain Trench The Rocky Mountain Trench, also known as the Valley of a Thousand Peaks or simply the Trench, is a large valley on the western side of the northern part of North America's Rocky Mountains. The Trench is both visually and cartographically a ...

which is where the Parsnip and Finlay met at

Finlay Forks Finlay Forks (also called Finlay Junction and sometimes misspelt Findlay), is the confluence of the Finlay River and Parsnip River in British Columbia, Canada. The Finlay Bay Recreation Site, on the southeast bank, is about southeast of the former ...

to form the Peace. The lake includes three reaches, the Peace Reach (formerly the Peace Canyon), and the Parsnip and Finlay Reaches, which are the lowermost basins of those rivers, and covers a total area of , being the largest lake in British Columbia and the seventh largest reservoir (by volume) in the world. The reservoir is fed by the

Finlay Finlay is a masculine given name, and also a surname. The given name is represented in Scottish Gaelic as Fionnlagh. Given name Finlay *Finlay Calder, Scottish rugby player * Finlay Christie (comedian), British comedian * Finlay Christie, Scottis ...

, Omineca, Ingenika, Ospika,

Parsnip The parsnip (''Pastinaca sativa'') is a root vegetable closely related to carrot and parsley, all belonging to the flowering plant family Apiaceae. It is a biennial plant usually grown as an annual. Its long taproot has cream-colored skin an ...

, Manson,

Nation A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...

and Nabesche Rivers and by Clearwater Creek, Carbon Creek, and other smaller creeks. Several

provincial park Ischigualasto Provincial Park A provincial park (or territorial park) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park. They are similar to state parks in other countries. They are typically open to the ...

s are maintained on the shore of the lake, including Muscovite Lakes Provincial Park, Butler Ridge Provincial Park, Heather-Dina Lakes Provincial Park and Ed Bird-Estella Provincial Park.

Tributaries

The following rivers empty into the Williston Reservoir, in clockwise order from the Peace River outlet: *

Parsnip River The Parsnip River is a long river in central British Columbia, Canada. It flows generally north-westward from the Parsnip Glacier in the Hart Ranges to the Parsnip Reach of Williston Lake, formed by the impounding of the waters of the Peace R ...

* Pack River * Nation River * Manson River * Omineca River * Osilinka River * Mesilinka River *

Ingenika River The Ingenika River is a river located in the Canadian boreal forest, in the province of British Columbia. The surroundings of the Ingenika River are mainly coniferous forest Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of ...

Finlay River The Finlay River is a 402 km long river in north-central British Columbia flowing north and thence south from Thutade Lake in the Omineca Mountains to Williston Lake, the impounded waters of the Peace River formed by the completion of the W ...

*Davis River *

Ospika River The Ospika River is a river in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, rising in the Northern Rocky Mountains to the north of Lake Williston and flowing south to join that lake in the lower end of its Finlay Reach. Before the creation o ...

*Wicked River *West Nabesche River *Nabesche River Additionally, the following creeks empty into Williston Reservoir, in clockwise order from the Peace River outlet (this list is not comprehensive): *Carbon Creek *Ducette Creek *Clearwater Creek *Point Creek *Selwyn Creek *Weston Creek *Scott Creek *Patsuk Creek *Cutthumb Creek *Tony Creek *Tutu Creek *Mugaha Creek *Chichouyenily Creek *Gagnon Creek *Mischinsinlika Creek *Lignite Creek *Scovil Creek *Tsedeka Creek *Dastaiga Creek *Blackwater Creek *Eklund Creek *Fries Creek *Strandberg Creek *Chunamon Creek *Tear Creek *Pete Toy Creek *Lorimer Creek *Ole Creek *Mica Creek *Factor Ross Creek *Frank Creek *Isola Creek *Ruby Red Creek *Ivor Creek *Police Creek *Chowika Creek *Shovel Creek *Brain Creek *Collins Creek *Lafferty Creek *Bevel Creek *Lost Cabin Creek *Bernard Creek *Weasel Creek *Schooler Creek *Dunlevy Creek *Cust Creek

History

Williston Lake was created in 1968 by the building of the W. A. C. Bennett Dam on the

, which flooded the aboriginal-territorial home of the

Tsay Keh Dene First Nation The Tsay Keh Dene First Nation is one of the Sekani bands of the Northern Interior of British Columbia. The territories, settlements, and reserves surround Williston Lake in the Omineca region of central British Columbia. The locations range fr ...

.Carrier Sekani Tribal Council
Carrier Chronology of Contact with Europeans-Euroamericans
Archived at th

Archive date 2006-11-18. The reservoir was named after the Honourable Ray Gillis Williston, at the time the Minister of Lands, Forests and Water Resources.

References

External links

*BC Hydro
Williston Reservoir
*BC Hydro
Peace-Williston Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program
* Lakes of British Columbia Reservoirs in British Columbia Peace River Country Cassiar Land District {{BritishColumbiaInterior-geo-stub

Geography

Tributaries

History

See also

References

External links