Lake of the Woods

Lake of the Woods ; Lac des Bois
Location:	Manitoba , Ontario (Canada), ; Minnesota (USA)
Tributaries:	Rainy River , from Shoal Lake , from Kakagi Lake
Drain:	Winnipeg River
Larger cities on the shore:	Kenora
	Ontario , Canada
Coordinates	49 ° 8 '59 " N , 94 ° 49' 59" W Coordinates: 49 ° 8 '59 " N , 94 ° 49' 59" W
	Data on the structure
Construction time:	1898-1926
Power plant output:	24 MW ; (14 MW Norman GS, ; 10 MW Kenora GS)
Operator:	Lake of the Woods Control Board, AbitibiBowater
	Data on the reservoir
Altitude (at congestion destination )	321.87 m - 323.47 m
Water surface	4th 349 km²
Reservoir length	109 km
Reservoir width	95 km
Catchment area	70 400 km²
Design flood :	1 416 m³ / s
	NASA satellite image of the lake

Beach scene at Lake of the Woods, 2008

The Lake of the Woods ( French Lac des Bois ) is a lake in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario and in the US state of Minnesota . The Lake of the Woods Convention and Protocol , signed by Canada and the United States in 1925, regulates the border. This created the area called Northwest Angle , which cannot be reached by land from the rest of the USA.

The lake has a length of 120 km in north-south direction and an area of 4349 km². The maximum water depth is 64 m. The lake, located at 322 m , has 14,552 islands and a very irregular shoreline of 105,000 km.

A large number of rare plant species can be found on the mostly forested islands. Mammals and birds, such as the bald eagle , also find good living conditions in the clean and fish-rich waters.

The Rainy River flows into the lake, from which in turn the Winnipeg River rises, which feeds Lake Winnipeg . The lake is a remnant of the prehistoric Agassiz Lake .

The following types of fish are caught in the lake: eyeglasses , Canadian pikeperch , largemouth bass , black bass , pike , muscle lung , American perch , crappie , sunfish , American char and herring vendace . The catch of the sea sturgeon is prohibited all year round.

history

The lake is a remnant of the huge Agassizsee , which existed for several millennia and which was fed by the melt waters after the end of the Ice Age. The oldest human traces are over 8000 years old.

Cree , Ojibwa and Sioux lived in the area of the lake before the first Europeans. They left numerous rock paintings. Around 2,000 Indians now live in various reservations around the lake. The name for the lake referred to its northern edge, more precisely a portage. So it was called Wauzhushk Onigum, which means something like 'portage to the land of muskrat'.

The first European to mention the lake was the French Jacques de Noyon, who reached it in 1688. Jean-Baptiste La Vérendrye built Fort Saint-Charles in 1732 on the north bank. The Aulneau Peninsula was named after Jean-Pierre Aulneau (1705–36), who was killed on one of the islands by Sioux warriors along with La Vérendrye and 19 other men. The lake lay along a very important fur trade route, but the lake with its confusing island structure was known for the fact that numerous voyageurs lost their way. Here, where numerous fur animals lived in great numbers, the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company fought particularly fiercely.

In 1821 the two companies were forcibly merged, and in 1836 the company built a trading fort on Old Fort Island on the Winnipeg River. The Wauzhushk onigum, or Rat Portage post, was moved to the mainland in 1861. This is where the town of Rat Portage arose . In the border dispute it became the bone of contention between Ontario and Manitoba, the Ontario-Manitoba boundary dispute , which lasted from 1870 to 1884. Both provinces had prisons there, and both issued licenses to raw material and timber companies. In 1882 the city was incorporated, so it could elect its own mayor and take part in the elections for the provincial parliament, which the residents did for the first time on September 28, 1883. However, they took part in both the Manitoba and Ontario elections. It was not until 1884 that the Privy Council of England decided that the place belonged to Ontario. The decision only became official in 1889.

The Canadian Pacific Railway arrived in the area in the early 1880s, and Rat Portage became a center of the lumber industry, the first exponent of which was the Keewatin Lumber Company, which was followed by others such as Western Lumber, Rat Portage Lumber and Dick & Banning. With their type of logging, i.e. extensive deforestation, they cut large holes in the ecosystem. Sawmills emerged, and American Minnesota firms also took part in the logging. Steam boats transported the wood, such as the Lady of the Lake , which was the first larger ship of its kind on the lake. The numerous ships had their port in Rat Portage. At the end of the 19th century, gold discoveries attracted more people to the region and new settlements emerged

In 1905, Rat Portage was renamed Kenora after the Maple Leaf Flour Company refused to settle there because of the daunting name. She feared losing customers if the name were printed on her sacks of flour. The name originated from Ke ewatin, a sister city, and No rman, a neighboring village, and Ra t Portage. The growing city had hospitals, schools and a library built as well as an opera house. There were also hotels and other tourist buildings.

Backus-Brooks, a paper mill that was the largest employer for several decades, was established in 1923. After the Second World War, the wood and paper industries were joined by mining, fishing and finally tourism. The good accessibility via the Trans Canada Highway contributed to the fact that more and more visitors came to the region, as did an infrastructure of hotels and campsites, museums and interpretive centers.

Flow regulation

In 1919 the Lake of the Woods Control Board (LWCB) was established. Its tasks include the flow regulation in the catchment area of the Winnipeg River . It also regulates the water level of the Lake of the Woods. The normal water level fluctuates between 321.87 m and 323.47 m. The maximum water height is 323.85 m. The maximum discharge capacity is 1416 m³ / s.

The outflow is regulated at the Norman Dam near Kenora. The associated hydropower plants are Norman Generating Station (14 MW, 1926) and Kenora Generating Station (10 MW, 1906). The hydraulic potential is 6.4 m.