Wollaston Lake is a lake in northeastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is 550 kilometres (340Â mi) northeast of Prince Albert. With a surface area of 2286Â km2 (excluding islands; 2681Â km2 if islands are included), it is the largest bifurcation lake in the world that drains naturally in two directions.
The Fond du Lac River flows out of the lake to the northwest, where it drains into Lake Athabasca, which ultimately drains into the Arctic Ocean via the Mackenzie River system. The Cochrane River flows out of the northeastern side of the lake and into Reindeer Lake, which drains via the Churchill River system into Hudson Bay. If Hudson Bay is defined to be part of the Atlantic Ocean, and if the Arctic Ocean is not defined to be part of the Atlantic, then Wollaston Lake drains into two oceans. For similar cases see List of unusual drainage systems.
Wollaston Lake's main inflow is the Geikie River which flows from the southwest into the southwest section of the lake. If the aforementioned oceanic definitions are used, then the Geikie is the largest river in the world to flow naturally into two oceans.
Wollaston Lake is also the largest lake entirely within Saskatchewan, although the Saskatchewanian portions of Lake Athabasca and Reindeer Lake are both larger.
Samuel Hearne learned of the lake in 1770 and David Thompson noted in 1796 the dual outlets as “perhaps without parallel in the world.†In 1807, Peter Fidler named the lake after George Hyde Wollaston.
The only settlement on its shores is also named Wollaston Lake. The settlement includes the northern hamlet of Wollaston Lake with a population of 129 and the adjacent village of Wollaston Post of the Hatchet Lake Dene Nation with a population of 1251.
Access
Access to the lake is provided by the community airstrip (Wollaston Lake Airport) and an all-weather road (Highway 905) to La Ronge. This road passes by the western side of the lake, while the community of Wollaston Lake is located on the eastern side, but the lake can be crossed by a winter road when the lake is frozen (November through June) and by the Wollaston barge when it is not. Air service is also provided to Points North Landing, a service centre for nearby uranium mines. This industry provides jobs for local residents, but has raised concerns over possible contamination of the lake.
Fish species
Fish species found in the lake include walleye, yellow perch, northern pike, lake trout, Arctic grayling, lake whitefish, cisco, burbot, white sucker and longnose sucker.
Treated effluent from the Rabbit Lake uranium mine is released into Hidden Bay on the southwestern side of the lake.
References
External links
- Fish Species of Saskatchewan
- Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan
