Chestermere Lake

Chestermere Lake
in winter
Location	Chestermere, Alberta
Coordinates	51°02′20″N 113°49′07″W / 51.03889°N 113.81861°W / 51.03889; -113.81861Coordinates: 51°02′20″N 113°49′07″W / 51.03889°N 113.81861°W / 51.03889; -113.81861
Lake type	reservoir
Basin countries	Canada
Max. length	5 km (3.1 mi)
Max. width	0.7 km (0.43 mi)
Surface area	2.65 km2 (1.02 sq mi)
Max. depth	7 m (23 ft)
Surface elevation	1,028 m (3,373 ft)

Chestermere Lake is a man-made reservoir in Chestermere, Alberta, Canada.

It was built in the 1880's by the Canadian Pacific Railway, for irrigation of the area between Calgary and Strathmore. It is presently used mainly for recreation purposes, such as swimming, windsurfing, fishing and skating (in winter). The town of Chestermere surrounds the lake on three sides. The Trans-Canada Highway follows the northeastern shore, while the railway tracks pass by the southern shore.

The lake covers a surface of 2.65 square kilometres and has a maximum depth of 7 metres.^[1] It drains into two irrigation canals and is filled via a canal from the Bow River.

The phrase "Chestermere Lake" is actually inaccurate as "mere" means lake in English. With "Chester" an English word derived from the Latin for a defensive fort and meaning "Castle", this would make "Chestermere Lake" translate as "Lake Castle Lake".

References

1. ^ Atlas of Alberta Lakes - Chestermere Lake

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