"Grande Prairie" a Edmonton Travel Page by Darby2

Located in the Peace River region of Alberta near the British Columbia border, Grande Prairie is noted for it's sweeping landscape of aspen forests, broken by vast tracts of rich farmland. There is also major oil and gas production from this area.

This photo was taken east of Grande Prairie in the scenic Kleskun Hills and shows the splendid autumn colours in early October. Taken with my 8 x10 Camera.

Copyright ©1980 David R. Belcher

Across the border into British Columbia are the cities of Dawson Creek and Fort St. John and the town of Hudson's Hope and nearby the Bennet Dam and Peace Canyon Dam. This is a site not to be missed!
The WAC Bennett Dam is located 24 km west of Hudson's Hope. The larger of the two dams near
Hudson's Hope, the Bennett Dam is 2 km long, 850 meters across at the base and 9 meters across
at the crest. Proof that you can move mountains.
Located behind the dam is Williston Lake.
This reservoir was created when the Peace River was dammed and covers an area of 177 300 hectares.
The lake took five years to fill.

Williston Lake is backed up 362 km through the Rocky Mountain
Trench and is the 10th largest reservoir in the world.

About the BENNET DAM
Q. How tall is the dam?
A. 600 ft.
Q. How much fill is in the dam?
A. 100 million tonnes
Q. How long is the dam?
A. 1.25 miles long
Q. How large is the reservoir?
A. 230 miles long; 10th largest in the world.
Q. What is the volume of water entering the turbines?
A. 500,000 cubic feet per second (cfs)
Q. What is the function of the spillway?
A. To lower the level of the reservoir if it gets too high and threatens to overflow
Q. Why does water level fluctuate downstream?
A. Because BC Hydro produces electricity on demand. A greater demand equals more water through the turbines

Many of these old barns have stood for a hundred years or more.

This one is near Grimshaw

In the Summer of 2002, with the level of the Williston Lake reservoir near its maximum, there was a release of water through the spillways. This has happened only 3 times before since the dam was built. The fall of water is more than 3 times higher than Niagara Falls!

The intake pipes are 5m in diameter.
The spillway is 850m long and 30m wide.
2 of the turbines can produce 422,500 horse power.
Earth filled dam 2km long 850 meters thick at the base and 9 meters thick at the crest.