Kamloops Lake

Lake in British Columbia, Canada

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Kamloops Lake

Kamloops Lake

Location| British Columbia
Coordinates| 50°45′N 120°40′W﻿ / ﻿50.750°N 120.667°W﻿ / 50.750; -120.667
Primary inflows| Thompson River, Tranquille River
Primary outflows| Thompson River
Catchment area| 39,050 km2 (15,080 sq mi)
Basin countries| Canada
Max. length| 29 km (18 mi)
Max. width| 1.6 km (0.99 mi)
Surface area| 52 km2 (20 sq mi)
Average depth| 71 m (233 ft)
Max. depth| 152 m (499 ft)
Water volume| 3.7 km3 (3,000,000 acre⋅ft)
Residence time| ca. 0.2 years (20-340 days)
Shore length1| 60.5 km (37.6 mi)
Surface elevation| 335 m (1,099 ft)
Settlements| Savona
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Kamloops Lake in British Columbia, Canada is situated on the Thompson River just west of Kamloops.[1] The lake is 1.6 km wide, 29 km long, and up to 152 m deep. In prehistoric time, the lake was much longer, perhaps 20x, with adjacent silt cliffs defining ancient lake bottoms 100 meters higher than present water levels. At the outlet near Savona, a large tumbled rock, gravel moraine indicates the toe of a glacier once melted away here. The community of Savona is located at the west end of the lake, near the Thompson River outlet. The city of Kamloops is located a few miles east of the head of the lake, at the confluence of the North and South Thompson Rivers. The name, Kamloops, derives from a local Indigenous word, Tk’emlúps, meaning a meeting of waters.

Basin of the Thompson River

The lake is bounded on all sides by steep hillsides, with level areas found only near creek deltas and around the inlet. On these hills, fresh, green grass feeds herds of Mule Deer and Rocky Mountain Sheep in the Spring. The Canadian National Railroad runs along the North shore, and the Canadian Pacific Railroad along the South shore. The surrounding land is mostly dedicated to Beef cattle ranching. It is classified as dry belt interior grasslands, Semi-arid desert, as it is in the rain shadow of the Coast Mountain Range, averaging only 10 inches of total precipitation a year. Vegetation is mostly bunchgrass and sagebrush, with pockets of Douglas fir, Ponderosa pine and spruce.

Kamloops Lake is a widening and deepening of the Thompson River, which enters at the east end and exits at the west end. The limnology of the lake is controlled by the Thompson River, which has high fluctuations in annual flow, with over 60% occurring in the early summer during freshet (May to July). Lake levels rise naturally, as much as 30 feet (9.1 m), on average, from winter lows till late June. Infrequent flood years have brought it up another 5 to 10 feet (2 – 4 m). Consequently, rare sandy beach areas expand by as much as 200 feet (61 m) in the summer as lake levels recede in July and August.

The S.S. Peerless on Kamloops Lake C. 1880s

Bulk residence times (the time it takes for the water in the lake to be replaced with new water), are very short, ranging from 20 days to 340 days, with a mean of 60 days. Because Kamloops Lake is fed by both the North and South Thompson rivers (the South Thompson drains from the very warm Shuswap Lakes, 230 meters deep), Kamloops Lake is relatively warm. It rarely freezes over in Winter. Since the late twentieth century, it has become an increasingly popular boating and recreational area. On the north side of the lake is Fredrick, and on the south side of the lake is Savona, and rural residential areas such as Cherry Creek and the Tobiano resort community. At the East end of the lake are the remains of Tranquille, a Tuberculosis Sanitorium, built in 1907 & finally closed in 1983; limited day use only access to the lakeshore exists here. A boat launch, trestle and gas dock have been built at Tobiano; it is the only location on Kamloops Lake with these facilities. Steelhead Provincial Park is a campsite in Savona, on the far western shore of the lake. Both Savona and Kamloops also have boat launches, but their use is dependent on water levels.

## Physical dimensions

[edit]

* Water level: Unregulated
* Normal range of annual water level fluctuation: 5 m
* Surface Elevation: 335 m

## See also

[edit]

* List of lakes of British Columbia
* Painted Bluffs Provincial Park

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Search the Canadian Geographical Names Database (CGNDB) - Kamloops Lake". Government of Canada. 2021-02-16. Retrieved 2024-12-15.

## External links

[edit]

* Media related to Kamloops Lake at Wikimedia Commons

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Hydrography of British Columbia

Rivers|

* Columbia
* Cowichan
* Fraser
* Kootenay
* Liard
* Nanaimo
* Nass
* Nechako
* Peace
* Quesnel
* Skeena
* Stikine
* Thompson
* more...

Lakes|

* Atlin
* Babine
* Cowichan
* Great Central
* Harrison
* Kinbasket
* Kootenay
* Nechako
* Okanagan
* Shuswap
* Tagish
* Teslin
* Williston
* more...

Coastal features|

| Haida Gwaii|

* Cumshewa Inlet
* Darwin Sound
* Laskeek Bay
* Masset Inlet
* Rennell Sound
* Skidegate Channel
* Skidegate Inlet

|

North Coast|

* Arthur Passage
* Burke Channel
* Chatham Sound
* Dixon Entrance
* Douglas Channel
* Finlayson Channel
* Fisher Channel
* Fitz Hugh Sound
* Gardner Canal
* Grenville Channel
* Hecate Strait
* Juan Perez Sound
* Lama Passage
* Laredo Channel
* Milbanke Sound
* Portland Inlet
* Prince Rupert Harbour
* Princess Royal Channel
* Principe Channel
* Queen Charlotte Sound
* Rivers Inlet
* Seaforth Channel
* Smith Inlet
* Smith Sound
* Wright Sound

Central Coast|

* Belize Inlet
* Bute Inlet
* Call Inlet
* Cordero Channel
* Drury Inlet
* Frederick Arm
* Goletas Channel
* Johnstone Strait
* Kingcome Inlet
* Knight Inlet
* Loughborough Inlet
* Nodales Channel
* Phillips Arm
* Pryce Channel
* Queen Charlotte Strait
* Seymour Inlet
* Sutlej Channel
* Wells Passage

Salish Sea|

* Active Pass
* Baynes Sound
* Boundary Bay
* Boundary Pass
* Burrard Inlet
* Calm Channel
* Captain Passage
* Desolation Sound
* Discovery Passage
* Haro Strait
* Homfray Channel
* Hoskyn Channel
* Howe Sound
* Jervis Inlet
* Malaspina Strait
* Okisollo Channel
* Port San Juan
* Ramsay Arm
* Saanich Inlet
* Sansum Narrows
* Satellite Channel
* Sechelt Inlet
* Stuart Channel
* Strait of Georgia
* Strait of Juan de Fuca
* Sutil Channel
* Toba Inlet
* Trincomali Channel
* Victoria Harbour

Vancouver Island|

* Barkley Sound
* Brooks Bay
* Checleset Bay
* Clayoquot Sound
* Hansen Bay
* Kyuquot Sound
* Nootka Sound
* Pachena Bay
* Quatsino Sound
* San Josef Bay

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