Pipestone Creek is a river in 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 ...

watershed. Its flow begins in southeastern

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 ...

, just south of the town of Grenfell and travels in a southeasterly direction into

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 ...

in the

Westman Region The Westman Region (also known as Western Manitoba or simply Westman) is an informal geographic List of regions of Manitoba, region of the Canada, Canadian Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Manitoba located in the southwestern cor ...

where it empties into Oak Lake through the Oak Lake Marsh. The Pipestone Creek is 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 Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North America—New Brunswick, N ...

and five

U.S. states 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 ...

. 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 ...

. The topographical basin of Pipestone Creek's watershed ranges from 804 to 426 metres

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

(asl), with a mean elevation of 650 asl. Most of the waters that flow into the Pipestone Creek depend upon rains and melting snow. There are no large natural lakes in its watershed. Saskatchewan and Manitoba have waterflow agreements regulating how much water Saskatchewan must allow to flow down Pipestone Creek into Manitoba. Saskatchewan has always met its requirements. Pipestone Creek and nearby Stony Creek are the two main tributaries to Oak Lake Aquifer, which is an important source of water in south-west Manitoba.

Course

The Pipestone Creek follows the path of the Pipestone Spillway, which is a valley that was created during the melting of the last glaciation about 15,000 years ago. The headwater for the spillway was glacial Lake Indian Head. From its headwaters, the creek travels in a south-easterly direction and flows through

Ochapowace Nation The Ochapowace Nation ( ''ocâpowês'') is a Cree First Nation in southern Saskatchewan, Canada. Reserves ; Reserves include * Ochapowace 71 * Ochapowace 71-1 * Ochapowace 71-2 * Ochapowace 71-3 * Ochapowace 71-4 * Ochapowace 71-5 * Ochap ...

then into Pipestone Lake, a man-made lake with an

earthen dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface ...

. From there it winds its way past

St. Hubert Mission St. Hubert Mission is a former community in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan, originally settled by French nobility, French Counts. It was located on Pipestone Creek (Saskatchewan), Pipestone Creek, ab ...

, an early French colony. South of the town of

Moosomin, Saskatchewan Moosomin () is a town in southern Saskatchewan founded in 1882. It is 20 kilometres west of the provincial boundary between Saskatchewan and Manitoba. History With the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1882, Moosomin was establish ...

, the creek flows into another man-made lake, Moosomin Lake. Moosomin Dam, owned and 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 ...

, is also an earthen dam that was completed in 1955. From Moosomin Lake, the creek continues south-east where is crosses the border into Manitoba. Just across the border, the creek winds past

Kola unit was the big kola int eh Kola may refer to: People * Koła, a Polish noble family * Kola (name), people with the given name/surname Kola * Kola (singer), Ukrainian singer, songwriter and performer of her own songs * Kola people, Gabonese p ...

and

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

on its way to

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. It is north of Norwich, northwest of North Walsham and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local ...

. From Cromer, it continues in a more southerly direction until it nears

Reston Reston may refer to: Places *Reston, Florida, an unincorporated community in Florida, United States *Reston, Lincolnshire, a parish in England *Reston, Manitoba, a small community in southwestern Manitoba, Canada *Reston Scar, a fell in Cumbria, En ...

where it heads east towards the communities of Pipestone and Oak Lake Indian Reserve. From there it heads north-east through Oak Lake Marsh and into Oak Lake through the Pipestone Creek Diversion. Oak Lake flows into the Plum Lakes which flow into the Souris River via the Plum Creek.

Tributaries

*Montgomery Creek, starts in the Moose Mountain Upland near Highway 711 and flows due north past

Kennedy Kennedy may refer to: People * Kennedy (surname), including any of several people with that surname ** Kennedy family, a prominent American political family that includes: *** Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. (1888–1969), American businessman, investor, ...

and Highway 48 until it meets Pipestone Creek just downstream from Pipestone Lake. *Little Pipestone Creek, starts in Moose Mountain Upland and flows in a generally eastward direction past

Wawota Wawota is a town of 543 people along Highway 48 in the southeast part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Established in 1905, its name is from Dakota "wa ota", which means "much snow". Wa means 'snow', oda or ota means 'much'. It is som ...

and into the south-west corner of Moosomin Lake.

Gallery

File:Pipestone Creek Valley.jpg, Pipestone Creek Valley in the RM of Pipestone. File:Pipestone Creek 01.jpg, Pipestone Creek viewed from the bridge on Road 256, near Cromer

Course

Tributaries

Gallery

See also

References

External links

Further reading