Lake Minnewanka

Lake Minnewanka
August 2024
Lake Minnewanka
Location	Banff National Park, Alberta
Coordinates	51°15′29″N 115°22′23″W
Lake type	reservoir, natural lake
Primary inflows	Cascade River
Basin countries	Canada
Max. length	28 km (17 mi)
Max. depth	142 m (466 ft)
Surface elevation	1,500 metres (4,900 ft)

Lake Minnewanka Reservoir ( /ˌmɪnəˈwɑːŋkə/) ('water of the spirits' in Nakoda) is man-made reservoir, that flooded a chain of three historic glacial lakes, in the eastern area of Banff National Park in Canada, about five kilometres (3.1 miles) northeast of the Banff townsite. The reservoir is 21 km (13 mi) long and 142 m (466 ft) deep, making it the 2nd longest waterbody in the mountain parks of the Canadian Rockies (the result of a power dam at the west end).

The reservoir is fed by the Cascade River, flowing east of Cascade Mountain, and runs south through Stewart Canyon as it empties into the western end of the reservoir. Numerous streams flowing down from Mount Inglismaldie, Mount Girouard and Mount Peechee on the south side of the reservoir also feed this waterbody.

Aboriginal people long inhabited areas around the original shoreline of Lake Minnewanka, as early as 10,000 years ago, according to stone tools and a Clovis point spearhead discovered by archaeologists. The area is rich in animal life (e.g. elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, bears) and the easy availability of rock in the mountainous terrain was key to fashioning weapons for hunting.

The western end of the reservoir can be reached by following Lake Minnewanka Road from the Trans-Canada Highway. Boat tours are available near the parking lot. A hiking and mountain biking trail runs along the northern shore of the reservoir, passing a wooden footbridge over Stewart Canyon and six backcountry campsites. Mount Aylmer, which at 3,162 m (10,374 ft) is the highest mountain in this area of the park, is a few kilometres north of the reservoir.

The first dam was built of wood, in 1895 to improve the shoreline for recreational use at the summer village of Minnewanka Landing. The second dam was built of concrete, in 1912 to store water and generate power for the coal mining community of Bankhead. While the National Parks Act was suspended during the Second World War the much larger embankment dam that still exists was constructed in 1941 and raised the water level 30 m (98 ft). This resulted in the resort village of Minnewanka Landing, which had been there since 1888, being submerged and the Cascade River being diverted away from its old course, resulting in much of the riverbed downstream of the dam running dry for most of the year for the next 70+ years (except in 2013 when a high-water event resulted in the dam's spillway being opened for the first time ever). Most water from the Cascade River is diverted into Two Jack Lake reservoir, where it enters a 4-kilometre-long canal. From there it is funnelled into a pair of penstocks feeding two generators in the Cascade Powerhouse with a combined capacity of 34 megawatts. The facility is owned by TransAlta and supplies power to the Banff townsite. To increase the amount of water entering the penstocks a small diversion dam was built on the Ghost River, which diverted additional water into Lake Minnewanka Reservoir from the Ghost drainage. This structure was damaged during the 2013 flood and due to complications related to the presence of Whirling Disease in the Ghost drainage, this diversion has not been re-established. Also following the 2013 flood, TransAlta was able to upgrade the riparian valve that supplies water to the historic Cascade "Creek" channel, below the Minnewanka Reservoir, and since about 2014 has provided water flows that are adequate to ensure full aquatic connectivity and viable fisheries habitat between the Minnewanka Reservoir and the Bow River. Because of the remains of the submerged summer village, submerged bridge pilings, and submerged dam (the one from 1912) the reservoir is popular among recreational scuba divers. The construction of the dam resulted in involuntary resettlement of inhabitants from the reservoir area.

Gallery

• 
  Lake Minnewanka seen from Cascade Mountain Summit
• 
  Lake Minnewanka boat pier
• 
  Lake Minnewanka
• 
  Lake Minnewanka
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  Two Jack Lake
• 
  Lake Minnewanka and Bow River Valley
• 
  Lake Minnewanka in winter
• 
  Lake Minnewanka in winter
• 
  Misty Minnewanka lake in late fall
• 
  Panorama of the lake

See also

• Lakes of Alberta

External links

• Lake Minnewanka Hiking Trail Archived 2016-04-30 at the Wayback Machine