Redberry Lake (Saskatchewan)
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Redberry Lake is a
kettle A kettle, sometimes called a tea kettle or teakettle, is a device specialized for boiling water, commonly with a ''lid'', ''spout'', and ''handle''. There are two main types: the ''stovetop kettle'', which uses heat from a cooktop, hob, and the ...
salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...
near Hafford 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 ...
of
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 ...
. Named after the buffaloberry, it is a medium-sized saline lake within an area characterized by mostly
fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salt (chemistry), salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include ...
aquatic environments. The lake makes up the core protected area of the Redberry Lake (UNESCO) Biosphere Reserve and is a federal bird sanctuary of the same name. It is also an
Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
(IBA) of Canada and its northern most island is the location of the provincial Redberry
Wildlife Refuge A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geolog ...
(). A small
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 ...
is situated at the north-west corner of the lake. The countryside surrounding Redberry Lake is typical of the
aspen parkland Aspen parkland refers to a very large area of ecotone, transitional biome between prairie and boreal forest in two sections, namely the Peace River Country of northwestern Alberta crossing the border into British Columbia, and a much larger area ...
biome of which it is a part. Over the past several decades, Redberry Lake water levels have been declining and the salt concentrations increasing. With the declining levels, the shoreline length has been decreasing and the size of the islands in the lake have been increasing. In 1957, a new island — New Tern Island — appeared. In the 1940s, the salt content was low enough that there was a thriving commercial whitefish industry at the lake.


Lake levels and salinity

Redberry Lake water levels have been steadily declining and getting saltier over the past several decades. In 1974, the surface of the lake had an elevation of and an area of . That compares to and in the mid-2020s. In 1926, the salt concentration was 12 g/ L and by 1988 that had doubled to 24g/L. The increase was attributed to "declining lake depth during drought".
Magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 ...
,
sodium Sodium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Na (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 element, group 1 of the peri ...
, and
sulphate The sulfate or sulphate ion is a polyatomic anion with the empirical formula . Salts, acid derivatives, and peroxides of sulfate are widely used in industry. Sulfates occur widely in everyday life. Sulfates are salts of sulfuric acid and many ...
make up most of the salt in Redberry Lake. In 1940–41 with the salt content at only 15g/L, Donald Rawson from the
University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...
's biology department stocked Redberry Lake with whitefish (''Coregonus clupeaformis''). The fish thrived and in 1946 a commercial fishery was established. By 1981, though, the salt content had reached 20g/L and the fish could not survive, thus ending the fishery.


Redberry Lake IBA

The Redberry Lake (SK 005) Important Bird Area (IBA) of Canada encompasses the entire lake and much of the surrounding shoreline. The lake and its islands are important nesting areas for birds such as American white pelicans,
piping plover The piping plover (''Charadrius melodus'') is a small sand-colored, Passerellidae, sparrow-sized wader, shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band acro ...
s, and
whooping crane The whooping crane (''Grus americana'') is an endangered Crane (bird), crane species, native to North America, named for its "whooping" calls. Along with the sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis''), it is one of only two crane species native to ...
s. The total area protected is .


Redberry Lake Regional Park

Redberry Lake Regional Park (), which was founded in 1969, offers camping, golfing, swimming, hiking, boating, and many bird watching opportunities. Although there are no sport fish in the lake itself, the park has installed a small earthen dam on a creek which flows into the lake, creating a freshwater trout pond. The golf course, built in 1971, is a 9-hole, par 35 course. It has sand greens and is 2,304 yards. Access to the park and its amenities is from Highway 40.


See also

*
List of lakes of Saskatchewan This is a list of lakes of Saskatchewan, a province of Canada. The largest and most notable lakes are listed at the start, followed by an alphabetical listing of other lakes of the province. Larger lake statistics "The total area of a lake ...
* List of protected areas of Saskatchewan


References

{{Authority control Lakes of Saskatchewan Biosphere reserves of Canada Redberry No. 435, Saskatchewan Migratory Bird Sanctuaries of Canada Protected areas of Saskatchewan Division No. 16, Saskatchewan Important Bird Areas of Saskatchewan Endorheic lakes of Canada Saline lakes of Canada