Last Mountain Creek is a river in south-central Saskatchewan. It is a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

Qu'Appelle River The Qu'Appelle River is a river in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba that flows east from Lake Diefenbaker in south-western Saskatchewan to join the Assiniboine River in Manitoba, just s ...

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. state 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 ...

s. 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 ...

and the

Great Plains ecoregion The ecology of the Great Plains is diverse, largely owing to their great size. Differences in rainfall, elevation, and latitude create a variety of habitats including short-grass prairie, short grass, mixed-grass prairie, mixed grass, and tall-gras ...

. The river is part of the Upper Qu'Appelle River watershed and starts at the southern end of

Last Mountain Lake Last Mountain Lake, also known as Long Lake, is a prairie lake formed from Last Glacial Period, glaciation 11,000 years ago. It is located in south central Saskatchewan, Canada, about north-west of the city of Regina, Saskatchewan, Regina. I ...

. It travels in a southerly direction for about until it meets the Qu'Appelle River in the Qu'Appelle Valley, which was formed during the last ice age. During years in which the Qu'Appelle River is high, Last Mountain Creek naturally reverses direction and flows into Last Mountain Lake.

Craven Dam Craven Dam is at the confluence of the Qu'Appelle River and Last Mountain Creek and immediately east of the village of Craven on the Qu'Appelle River at LSD SW 24-20-21 W2. It is in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in the RM of Longlak ...

is located east of Last Mountain Creek's mouth on the Qu'Appelle River on the eastern side of the village of Craven. The gates of the dam are used to regulate water flows along the Qu'Appelle and can be closed to backflood water up Last Mountain Creek and into Last Mountain Lake.

Description

At the southernmost point of Last Mountain Lake, there is the Valeport Dam () and associated dykes that help control the lake's water levels. The dam was built in 1939, upgraded in 1958, and is high. It is 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 ...

. Last Mountain Creek flows out of the lake at the dam and runs through Valeport Marsh following Highway 20 until it meets the Qu'Appelle River at the village of Craven and Highways 641 and

729 Year 729 ( DCCXXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 729th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 729th year of the 1st millennium, the 29th year of the 8th century, and the 10th and ...

Wascana Creek Wascana Creek is a river in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is a tributary of the Qu'Appelle River. Originating in the fields east of Regina near Vibank, Wascana Creek travels south-east for approximately before turning back west ...

meets the Qu'Appelle River just west and upstream from the mouth of Last Mountain Creek.

Tributaries

Other than Last Mountain Lake and Valeport Marsh, no named tributaries flow into Last Mountain Creek. Several tributaries flow into Last Mountain Lake, though, including Arm River, Lewis Creek, and

Lanigan Creek Lanigan Creek is a river in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is located in the south central part of the province in a region called the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, which extends throughout three Canadian provinces and f ...

Valeport Marsh

Valeport Marsh () is an extensive

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

on the south-east corner of Last Mountain Lake at the point where Last Mountain Creek starts. The wetland is over in size and follows the course of the river towards Craven and the Qu'Appelle River for about . A 900-acre conservation project called Valeport Wildlife Management Area Trails protects the wetlands for migratory birds, ducks,

grebe Grebes () are aquatic diving birds in the order (biology), order Podicipediformes (). Grebes are widely distributed freshwater birds, with some species also found in sea, marine habitats during Bird migration, migration and winter. Most grebes f ...

s, and other wildlife. It was created by the provincial government with the assistance of

Ducks Unlimited Canada Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) is a Canadian non-profit environmental organization that works to conserve, create, restore and manage Canadian wetlands and associated uplands in order to provide healthy ecosystems that support North American wate ...

and is 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 ...

of Canada called Valeport Marsh (SK 061). At the head of the river and edge of the marsh, along Last Mountain Lake's south-eastern shore, is the Valeport Provincial Recreation Site (). The park offers canoeing, picnicking, hiking, and walking along the top of the dyke. Along the west side of the Valeport Wildlife Management Area is a

Nature Conservancy of Canada The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is a private, non-profit, charitable nature conservation and restoration organisation based in Canada. Since its founding in 1962, the organisation and its partners have protected of land and water acro ...

property called Big Valley (). Big Valley is 552 acres of protected

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

and is managed for bird and wildlife habitat. Valeport Marsh Wildlife Management Area is at the southern tip of Last Mountain Lake and

Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area is a National Wildlife Area (NWA) in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The protected area is in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, which extends throughout three Canadian provinces and f ...

is at the northern end.

References

External links

{{Authority control Rivers of Saskatchewan Tributaries of Hudson Bay Division No. 6, Saskatchewan Important Bird Areas of Saskatchewan Tributaries of the Assiniboine River

Description

Tributaries

Valeport Marsh

See also

References

External links