Nanaimo Lakes

Chain of lakes on Vancouver Island, Canada

For other uses, see Nanaimo (disambiguation).

Nanaimo Lakes

First Lake

Nanaimo Lakes

Location| Regional District of Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia[1]
Coordinates| 49°06′00″N 124°10′15″W﻿ / ﻿49.10000°N 124.17083°W﻿ / 49.10000; -124.17083[1]
Etymology| Snuneymuxw First Nation – city of Nanaimo
Part of| Nanaimo River
Catchment area| At least 23,000 hectares (57,000 acres)[2]
Basin countries| Canada
Max. length| 4 miles (6.4 km)
Surface elevation| 210 metres (690 ft)[3]

Nanaimo Lakes are a chain of four lakes composed of three natural—First, Second, and Third Lakes—and one man-made, dammed lake, Fourth Lake, on the upper Nanaimo River, on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.

## Geography

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The lakes are in a highland transitional area between the southern Vancouver Island Ranges and the Nanaimo Lowland.[4]

The 1:50,000 topographic map quadrangle 92F1 Nanaimo Lakes, published by Natural Resources Canada, is centred on the lakes.[3] Lake names do not appear on all online mapping services, and Third Lake, not listed by the Watershed Roundtable, but listed in a 1919 guide, and on the Natural Resources Canada map, may not appear on some maps at all.[5] A lake with a dam at the north end, named "Fourth Lake", is also shown on the map. First Lake and Second Lake, at c. 210 metres above sea level,[3] are connected by a short stream.[6] Fourth Lake Dam is privately owned and impounds 38,000,000 cubic metres (1.3×109 cu ft) of water, used for a paper mill.[7]

* First Lake 49°05′45″N 124°10′00″W﻿ / ﻿49.09583°N 124.16667°W﻿ / 49.09583; -124.16667﻿ (First Lake),[3] natural, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long[6]
* Second Lake 49°05′45″N 124°13′00″W﻿ / ﻿49.09583°N 124.21667°W﻿ / 49.09583; -124.21667﻿ (Second Lake),[3] natural, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long[6]
* Third Lake 49°05′10″N 124°19′12″W﻿ / ﻿49.08611°N 124.32000°W﻿ / 49.08611; -124.32000﻿ (Third Lake),[8] natural, much smaller than the others
* Fourth Lake 49°03′31″N 124°25′12″W﻿ / ﻿49.05861°N 124.42000°W﻿ / 49.05861; -124.42000﻿ (Fourth Lake),[9] a reservoir, about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) long and 2 km2 in area[10]

## Parks and recreation

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Timberwest owns four campsites on private land surrounding First Lake.[11] The lake was stocked with up to 30,000 salmon or trout per year for recreational fishing beginning in 1905 through the early 21st century.[12][13][6] Fourth Lake can be kayaked.[10]

## Nanaimo Lakes fire balloon

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In March, 1945, a Fu-Go balloon bomb made in Yamaguchi Prefecture and launched from Japan landed at the lakes. Its firing circuits malfunctioned; it failed to detonate and was recovered and analyzed by a Canadian–American intelligence effort.[14]

## See also

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* List of lakes of British Columbia

## References

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1. ^ a b "Nanaimo Lakes". Geographical Names database. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
2. ^ "Watershed protection". City of Nanaimo. 30 August 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
3. ^ a b c d e Map 092F01, "Nanaimo Lakes" digital raster, published by Natural Resources Canada, 7th edition, March 24, 2011; accessed via ftp 2018-07-10
4. ^ Yorath 2005, p. 17.
5. ^ "Nanaimo River Watershed: location". Nanaimo River Watershed Roundtable. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
6. ^ a b c d Williams 1919, p. 70.
7. ^ Butler et al. 2014, p. 9.
8. ^ "Third Lake". BC Geographical Names database. Province of British Columbia Geographical Names Office. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
9. ^ "Fourth Lake". BC Geographical Names database. Province of British Columbia Geographical Names Office. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
10. ^ a b "Fourth Lake", Canoe & Kayak Paddling on Vancouver Island, retrieved 10 July 2018
11. ^ "Nanaimo Lakes campsites". Timberwest. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
12. ^ "Fish stocking report – Nanaimo Lakes, Vancouver Island". Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
13. ^ Pochin 1946, p. 75.
14. ^ Coen 2014, p. 157.

### Sources

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* Butler, G.; Chapman, P.; Gullison, R.E.; Kellow, M.; Walker, S.; Wolf, J. (2014), Nanaimo River Baseline Report: social, environmental and economic values of the Nanaimo River and watershed (PDF) (2nd ed.) Unpublished report prepared for the Nanaimo & Area Land Trust. 312 pp.
* Coen, R. (2014). Fu-go: The Curious History of Japan's Balloon Bomb Attack on America. Studies in War, Society, and the Military Series. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-5667-5.
* Pochin, W.F. (1946). Angling and Hunting in British Columbia. Sun Directories.
* Williams, A.B. (1919). Rod & Creel in British Columbia. Progress Publishing Company. p. 143. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
* Yorath, C.J. (2005). The Geology of Southern Vancouver Island. Harbour Pub. ISBN 978-1-55017-362-8.

## External links

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* Canada portal

## Further reading

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* Davies, Gordon (1996). Living Rivers of British Columbia & Yukon. Living River of British Columbia & the Yukon. Ronsdale Press. ISBN 978-0-921870-37-1.

*[c.]: circa