Rivers / Daly Heritage / Interpretive Signs

Sign #8: Lake Wahtopanah




Lake Wahtopanah, also known as Rivers Reservoir, was built by the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration in 1960 to supplement water supplies for irrigation. It also provides the water supply for the town of Rivers, stock watering and recreation. The reservoir is about 2,000 feet (610 m) wide and six miles (10 km) long. The deepest point is about 50 feet (15 m). Riparian flows are regulated by a four foot square gated conduit. High flows pass over a 110-foot (34 m) wide concrete chute spillway. The reservoir stores about 24,500 acre feet (30,200,000 m3) and covers an area of about 1,580 acres (6.4 km2). The drainage area is about 1,260 square miles (3,300 km2) and extends well into Riding Mountain National Park



Rivers Provincial Park

This park consists of 38 hectares of mixed grass prairie, and the campground is located on Lake Wahtopanah, a reservoir that was created by damming the Little Saskatchewan River. The name Wahtopanah is a form of a native word watopapinah meaning “canoe people.” Rivers was named in 1908 after Sir Charles Rivers Wilson, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway.