In a document entitled “Lake Diefenbaker
Reservoir Operations Context and Objectives”,
prepared by the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority
Hydrology And Groundwater Services in May of
2012, the Gardiner Dam was described as, “...
a zoned earthen embankment with a central
impervious clay core.” The
total length of the dam is 5,000 m and its
height is 64 m.
When it was completed in
1966 it was, “... the largest
earth filled dam by volume in the world at
the time.”
It features a concrete spillway ....
... five diversion tunnels and associated
control structures (seen below)
.... and a hydroelectric
plant and switching yard.
"Water in the new lake behind
the dam would have flowed away down the
Qu‟Appelle River without a companion dam. A
smaller earth fill dam known as The
Qu’Appelle River Dam was constructed to
contain the lake and allows for controlled
releases from Lake Diefenbaker to the
Qu’Appelle River via a gated diversion
conduit. Both dams and the Gardiner spillway
were largely complete by 1966, and reservoir
filling began in 1967. SaskPower began
producing electricity in the fall of 1968,
and by 1970, the reservoir, known as Lake
Diefenbaker, had filled."
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