The Spray River is a tributary of the

Bow River The headwaters of the Bow River in Alberta, Canada, start at the Bow Glacier and Bow Lake (Alberta), Bow Lake in Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies, Canadian Rocky Mountains. The glacial stream that feeds Bow Lake (Alberta), Bow Lake ...

in western

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The Spray River originates in the southern area of

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada, Canada's first National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous ter ...

in the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies () or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, w ...

and soon enters the

Spray Lakes Reservoir Spray Lakes Reservoir is a reservoir in Alberta, Canada. The Spray Lakes were a string of lakes formed along the Spray River, a tributary of the Bow River. With the damming of the river, the lakes were united in the Spray Lakes Reservoir. It lies ...

formed in 1951 after the construction of the ''Canyon Dam.'' At that point, the river briefly touches the

Spray Valley Provincial Park Spray Valley Provincial Park is a provincial park located east of the Canadian Rockies, Rocky Mountains, along the Spray River in western Alberta, Canada. The park is part of the Kananaskis Country park system, along with Bluerock Wildland Provin ...

before returning to Banff National Park. The river originally continued to flow north-northwest between the Goat Range and the

Sundance Range The Sundance Range is a mountain range in the Canadian Rockies, south of the town of Banff. It is located on the Continental Divide, which forms the boundary between British Columbia and Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Ca ...

before merging with Goat Creek at the northern end of the Goat Range and eventually meeting the

in the Town of Banff, just below

Bow Falls Bow Falls is a major waterfall on the Bow River, Alberta just before the junction of it and the Spray River. They are located near the Banff Springs Hotel and golf course on the left-hand side of River Road. The falls are within walking distance ...

. However since the construction of the dam the Spray River bed is mostly dry north-northwest of the Spray Lakes Reservoir as the Dam diverts most of the water towards the Spray Powerhouse in Canmore. The river regains some water from Goat Creek and other smaller tributaries before arriving at the town of Banff. Meanwhile most of the Spray River's water exits the reservoir through the secondary ''Three Sisters Dam'' where there is a small 3MW generating station. From there it immediately enters a secondary reservoir known as the ''Goat Pond'' which directs the water into a 6 kilometre long canal which includes an 800 meter tunnel though the shoulder of

Ha Ling Peak Ha Ling Peak is a peak at the northwestern end of Ehagay Nakoda—a mountain located immediately south of the town of Canmore just east of the Spray Lakes road in Alberta's Canadian Rockies. It was previously named Chinaman's Peak but the ...

. From there it enters ''White Man Pond'' before being funnelled into a penstock to the main Spray Powerhouse at Grassi Lakes. The Spray Powerhouse is the second largest conventional (non

Pumped-storage Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. A PSH system stores energy in the form of gravitational potent ...

) hydroelectric facility in Alberta with a capacity of 112MW. The water continues to another shorter penstock leading to the Rundle Powerhouse where an additional 50MW of generation is available. From there water is released into the Bow River. The 4 dams and three power stations are owned and operated by

TransAlta TransAlta Corporation (formerly Calgary Power Company, Ltd.) is an electricity power generator and wholesale marketing company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is a privately owned corporation and its shares are traded publicly. It o ...

. Despite the diversion being a man made canal, it is often also called the Spray River, leading to confusion as many maps mark both the diversion and the original mostly dry river bed as the Spray river. The scenic

Smith Dorrien Trail The Canadian province of Alberta has a provincial highway network consisting of over of roads as of 2021-2022, of which have been paved. All of Alberta's provincial highways are maintained by the Ministry of Transportation and Economic Corri ...

follows the Spray River diversion canal and the shore of the Spray Lakes Reservoir. Spray River just below the Three Sisters Dam

References

Rivers of Alberta Banff National Park Bow River {{Alberta-river-stub

See also

References