Echo Lake (Saskatchewan)

Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Echo Lake Location in Saskatchewan Show map of Saskatchewan Echo Lake Echo Lake (Canada) Show map of Canada
Location	Saskatchewan
Group	Fishing Lakes
Coordinates	50°48′0″N 103°51′2″W / 50.80000°N 103.85056°W / 50.80000; -103.85056
Part of	Red River drainage basin
Primary inflows	Qu'Appelle River at Sioux Crossing
Primary outflows	Qu'Appelle River
Basin countries	Canada
Max. length	5 km (3.1 mi)
Max. width	1.7 km (1.1 mi)
Surface area	1,296.3 ha (3,203 acres)
Average depth	9.8 m (32 ft)
Max. depth	22 m (72 ft)
Water volume	242,000 dam3 (196,000 acre⋅ft)
Shore length1	16 km (9.9 mi)
Surface elevation	474 m (1,555 ft)
Settlements	Fort Qu'Appelle
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Echo Lake^[1] is a lake along the course of the Qu'Appelle River in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Echo Lake is so named because of the echo heard by the First Nations while paddling on the lake. It is one of four lakes that make up the Fishing Lakes.^[2][3] Pasqua Lake is upstream and Mission Lake is downstream. The lake can be accessed by Highway 56 and Highway 210.^[4] In 1942, a 4-metre (13 ft) high dam was built on the Qu'Appelle River at Echo Lake's outflow to control the lake's water levels.^[5] In the summer of 2024, Saskatchewan's Water Security Agency begun "interim repairs" on Echo Lake Dam to "improve safety and extend the dam's life until a replacement can be completed".^[6]

Echo Lake, as well as the other three Fishing Lakes, are all in the Qu'Appelle Valley, which was formed about 14,000 years ago during the last ice age. Meltwater from the glaciers carved out the valley and as water levels rose and fell, alluvium was left in the wake. These piles of alluvium are what created the separations between the lakes.^[7]