Lake Manitoba

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Lake Manitoba
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Location	Manitoba
Coordinates	51°00′N 98°50′WCoordinates: 51°00′N 98°50′W
Primary inflows	Waterhen River Mossy River Whitemud River
Primary outflows	Dauphin River
Catchment area	54,630 km² (21,093 mi²)
Basin countries	Canada
Max. length	200 km (125 mi)
Max. width	45 km (28 mi)
Surface area	4,624 km² (1,785 mi²)
Max. depth	7 m (23 ft)
Surface elevation	812 ft (247 m)
Settlements	Fairford, Steep Rock, St. Laurent, Amaranth

Lake Manitoba is Canada's thirteenth largest lake (4,624 km²)and the world's 33rd largest freshwater lake. It is in central North America, in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It is located about 75 km northwest of the province's capital, Winnipeg, at 51°0′N, 98°45′W.

The irregularly shaped lake, about 200 km long, is the smallest of a group of three large lakes, the other two being Lake Winnipeg (the largest) and Lake Winnipegosis, which are found on the floor of the prehistoric Glacial Lake Agassiz. The lake contains a large island with a lake in it; in that lake, there are also a few islands.

The lake is primarily fed by Lake Winnipegosis to its northwest via the Waterhen River, with an average annual contribution of 1.9 million acre feet. The Whitemud River and local overland flow average about 257,000 acre feet. Precipitation contributes about 1.8 million acre feet. From 1970 to 2003 the Portage Diversion has contributed an average annual volume of 246,800 acre feet from the Assiniboine River. Lake Manitoba drains northeast into Lake Winnipeg via the Dauphin River. It is thus part of the watershed of the Nelson River and Hudson Bay.

The southern tip of the lake, 24 km north of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, ends in the Delta Marsh, an important staging ground for migrating birds.

Communities on the lake include Fairford, Steep Rock, St. Laurent, and Amaranth.

The lake, its shores populated by the Assiniboine Cree, was made known to Europeans by La Vérendrye in the mid-1730s. He and his sons travelled from Fort La Reine through this lake to explore the Saskatchewan river and its environs. Forts were established on both the Saskatchewan and Cedar Lake. It also was part of the route of the fur trade to Hudson Bay.

The name derives from Cree manitou-wapow or Ojibwa manitou-bah, both meaning "straits of Manitou, the Great Spirit," a toponym referring to what are now called The Narrows in the centre of the lake. The lake was known to French explorers as Lac des Prairies.

For many years there have been claims that a monster similar to the Loch Ness Monster and Ogopogo lives in the lake. It has been named Manipogo.

[edit] Fishing

Lake Manitoba is one of the three main lakes in Manitoba's 30 million dollar annual commercial fishing industry.[1]

The main marketable fish species caught on Lake Manitoba has changed from whitefish in the late 1800s to walleye, sauger and yellow perch today. There has been a large increase in rough fish like carp and mullet. Tulibee catch remains high, although it is not considered a commercial species.

The total recorded catch of the commercial winter fishery on the lake has declined from 15 million pounds annually in the late 1940s to less than 4.5 million pounds in 2002.

[edit] Regulation

Severe flooding around the lake lead to the excavation of an improved outlet channel between 1899 and 1901. In 1933 following dry years in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Province constructed a concrete control dam across the Fairford River immediately downstream of the channel. A new dam was consructed in 1961. The new structure is operated to try to control levels between 810.5 and 812.5.