McDonald Lake, also known as Rafferty Reservoir, 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 ...

in the south-eastern part of 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 was created when the Rafferty Dam was built on the

Souris River The Souris River (; ) or Mouse River (as it is alternatively known in the U.S., a translation of its French name) is a river in central North America. Approximately in length, it drains about in Canada and the United States. Rising in sout ...

in 1994. Before the dam was built that flooded the Souris Valley, McDonald Lake was a small lake and marsh on the valley floor adjacent to the Souris River. The reservoir provides water to the

Shand Power Station Shand Power Station is a coal fired station owned by SaskPower in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, near the city of Estevan. Description The Shand Power Station consists of: *one 279 net MW unit (commissioned in 1992) *advanced env ...

and to the city of

Estevan Estevan is the eleventh-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is approximately north of the Canada–United States border. The Souris River runs by the city. This city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Estevan No. 5. History The ...

. A 10-kilometre long pipeline supplies the power station and a 9.2-kilometre long pipeline, which originates along the Souris River

river bed A streambed or stream bed is the bottom of a stream or river and is confined within a channel or the banks of the waterway. Usually, the bed does not contain terrestrial (land) vegetation and instead supports different types of aquatic vegeta ...

at the bottom of the reservoir, brings water to the Estevan water treatment plant. The water pipeline that brings water to Estevan was completed in 2020 after a three-year project that changed the source of Estevan's drinking water away from Boundary Dam Reservoir.

Rafferty Dam

Rafferty Dam () is at the south-eastern corner of the lake, about upstream from Estevan. It was built in conjunction with the

Grant Devine Dam The Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', is an embankment dam located in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan near Alameda, Saskatchewan, Alameda and Oxbow, Saskatchewan, Oxbow. It was constructed ...

(formally known as ''Alameda Dam''), which was built further downstream on

Moose Mountain Creek Moose Mountain Creek is a river in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Its source is the Chapleau Lakes near Montmartre and it is a tributary of the Souris River, which, in turn, is a tributary of the Assiniboine River. The whole system is ...

. Both dams are operated by the

Saskatchewan Water Security Agency The Saskatchewan Water Security Agency (before 2013, the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority) is an arm's length organization responsible for the management of water resources to ensure safe drinking water sources and reliable water supplies for eco ...

. The dam and reservoir provide flood control along the Souris River, irrigation, and recreation. The height of the top of the dam is above sea level. The maximum height available for flood control is . The normal full supply level is and the normal drawdown level is . The maximum draw down is above sea level. At full supply, the reservoir covers an area of . Two additional dams were built to contain the reservoir: The high Rafferty R3-2 Closure Dam () and the high Rafferty R4-1 Closure Dam (). Highway 606 crosses R3-2 and R4-1 is at Mainprize Regional Park. A long spillway connects the

Boundary Dam Reservoir Boundary Dam Reservoir is a man-made lake in the south-east corner of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is in the Rural Municipality of Estevan No. 5, RM of Estevan and Division No. 1, Saskatchewan, ...

to McDonald Lake, allowing excess water to flow into McDonald Lake. The flow can also be reversed if necessary.

Mainprize Regional Park

Mainprize Regional Park () is a

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distr ...

in the RM of Cymri No. 36 on the eastern shore at the northern end of McDonald Lake. The park includes a golf course, a campground, cabins, Pederson Place (a multi-purpose hall with a deck), a beach area, group camping, a boat launch, hiking trails, and four residential cottage subdivisions. Access to Mainprize is from Highway 606. In 1961, the regional park was founded in the Souris River Valley about downstream from the park's current location. With the building of the Rafferty Dam and subsequent flooding of the valley, the park was moved to its current location. It was named after Dr. William Graham Mainprize, who served the nearby community of

Midale Midale () is a town in the Rural Municipality of Cymri No. 36, in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is located on Highway 39, midway between the cities of Weyburn and Estevan. It is south-east of Regina. History Midale was inc ...

for over 50 years. The golf course is a par 72, Scottish links-style 18-hole course that was built in 1994. It has grass greens and there are 6,958 total yards. Amenities include a

pro shop A pro shop is a sporting-goods retail outlet found at a sports facility, most commonly a golf course, where it is typically located in the country club building. Pro shops can also be found at bowling alleys, pool and snooker halls, tennis and ...

, rentals, a restaurant, and a licensed lounge.

Fish species

Fish commonly found in McDonald 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 ...

. Between 1992 and 1999, the lake was stocked with over 20 million walleye.

Gallery

File:McDonald Lake Saskatchewan sunset.jpg, Sunset on McDonald Lake File:Estevan P1000957 (578772934).jpg, McDonald Lake File:Estevan P1000975 (578822787).jpg, McDonald Lake File:Rafferty Dam 04.jpg, The dam's spillway File:Rafferty Dam 03.jpg, The dam's riparin outlet File:Rafferty Dam 01.jpg, The information sign at the look out at Rafferty Dam

References

External links