Williston Lake

Williston Lake
Williston Lake
	Williston Lake
Location	British Columbia
Coordinates	56°N 124°W / 56°N 124°WCoordinates: 56°N 124°W / 56°N 124°W
Type	Reservoir
Primary inflows	Peace River
Primary outflows	Peace River
Basin countries	Canada
Max. length	251 km (156 mi)
Max. width	155 km (96 mi)
Surface area	1,761 km2 (680 sq mi)
Average depth	42 m (138 ft)
Water volume	74 cubic kilometres (60,000,000 acre⋅ft)
Surface elevation	671 m (2,201 ft); (level varies by 18 m)
References

Williston Lake is a reservoir created by the W. A. C. Bennett Dam and is located in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada.

Geography[]

The lake fills the basin of the upper Peace River, backing into the Rocky Mountain Trench which is where the Parsnip and Finlay met at Finlay Forks to form the Peace. The lake includes three reaches, the Peace Reach (formerly the Peace Canyon), and the Parsnip and Finlay Reaches, which are the lowermost basins of those rivers, and covers a total area of 1,761 km² (680 sq mi),^[1] being the largest lake in British Columbia and the seventh largest reservoir (by volume) in the world.

The reservoir is fed by the Finlay, Omineca, Ingenika, Ospika, Parsnip, Manson, Nation and and by Clearwater Creek, Carbon Creek, and other smaller creeks.

Several provincial parks are maintained on the shore of the lake, including Muscovite Lakes Provincial Park, Butler Ridge Provincial Park, Heather-Dina Lakes Provincial Park and Ed Bird-Estella Provincial Park.

Tributaries[]

The following rivers empty into the Williston Reservoir:

Finlay River
Omineca River
Ingenika River
Ospika River
Parsnip River
Manson River
Nation River
Clearwater Creek
Nabesche River
Carbon Creek

History[]

Williston Lake was created in 1968 by the building of the W. A. C. Bennett Dam on the Peace River, which flooded the aboriginal-territorial home of the Tsay Keh Dene First Nation.^[3]

The reservoir was named after the Honourable Ray Gillis Williston, at the time the Minister of Lands, Forests and Water Resources.