The Lesser Slave Watershed

Lesser Slave Lake, the third largest lake in Alberta, is located approximately 250 km northwest of Edmonton and encompasses an area of 1,160km2. The surrounding watershed covers an area of ~20,100 km2, about 3% of Alberta’s land base.

Drainage of the western most sub-basin is via the South Heart River into Buffalo Bay. Land to the south of Lesser Slave Lake in the Swan Hills area is drained by the East and West Prairie, Driftpile and Swan Rivers. North of the lake water enters through many smaller tributaries including Marten River. Water flows out of the lake to the east via the
Lesser Slave River which joins the Athabasca River approximately 75km downstream.

The Lesser Slave Watershed is situated within portions of both the Foothills and Boreal
Natural Regions of Alberta. The Foothills Natural Region can be broken down into the upper foothills and lower foothills sub-regions, both of which occur within the watershed. The upper foothills sub-region occurs in the highest areas of the Swan Hills, basically the junction between the South Heart, East & West Prairie River, Driftpile River and Swan River sub-basins and extends north along the Swan River and Lesser Slave River sub-basin
boundary. The region is characterized by strongly rolling to steep terrain, and is generally slightly coolerthan the lower foothills with more precipitation and snowfall.

Lesser Slave Lake, its tributaries and many smaller lakes within the watershed provide extensive habitat for aquatic organisms, including aquatic mammals, plants, birds, invertebrates and fish. There are 17 species of fish that have been found in Lesser Slave Lake.

At the watershed scale, there are two broad land use categories; the greenzone and white zone. The majority of the watershed is designated as green zone. Land within this zone i s predominately publicly owned and managed for multiple uses including timber production, oil & gas exploration and development, surface material removal, livestock grazing, recreation, watershed protection, and fish and wildlife habitat. This zone is generally not available for individual or community settlement. The white zone contains most of the land deemed suitable for cultivation, and is predominantly privately owned. Within the watershed, the white zone is concentrated within the South
Heart, East & West Prairie River sub-basins and along the south shore of Lesser Slave Lake. Within the Lesser Slave Watershed, there are 16 parks and protected areas, covering 52,776 hectares, or 2.8 % of the land base

Located in Treaty 8 Territory

Lesser Slave Watershed has long been a meeting place for Indigenous peoples. 
It is home to Kapawe’no First Nation, Sucker Creek First Nation, Driftpile Cree Nation, Swan River First Nation, and Sawridge First Nations, as well as the Métis settlements of East Prairie, Peavine, and Gift Lake.

The name of the lake refers to the original inhabitants of the land near the lake, the Slavey people. In more recent times, the lakeshore was and continues to be inhabited by the Cree people, and then later on, by fur traders who set up fur trading posts throughout the lake’s watershed and settlers soon followed.