Chaplin/Old Wives/Reed Lakes

Saskachewan, CANADA

Hemispheric Site

Contact: General Manager

Saskachewan Wetland Conservation Corporation

2202 Cornwall St., Rm. 101, Saskatchewan S4P 2K5 Canada

Tel. 306 787-0913

Fax. 306 787-0780

WHSRN Site Location

Geographic Coordinates:

Chaplin Lake – 50º 26’ N, 106º 40’ W

Old Wives Lake- 50º 07’ N, 106º 00’ W

(includes Frederick Lake, formerly attached to Old Wives Lake at SE corner)

Reed Lake – 50º 24’ N, 107º 04’ W

Area of Site:

Chaplin Lake – 6360 hectares

Old Wives Lake- 33,020 hectares

Reed Lake 3,300 hectares

Chaplin/Old Wives/Reed Lakes Land Description:

Chaplin Lake is a large intermittent saline lake which is broken into a number of sections by a series of roads and dikes for sodium sulphate extraction. Water depth on various segments is regulated by activities of the solution mining operation as well as by natural precipitation and evaporation.

The Chaplin/Old Wives/Reed Lakes area is one of the most important inland sites for migratory birds in North America. This area spans over 42,000 hectares (100,000 acres) and is the second largest saline inland water body in Canada. More than 30 species of shorebirds, some endangered, stop or nest here every summer. Over half of the world’s population of Sanderlings rest and eat here before completing their journey to nest in the Canadian Arctic. The numbers of Stilt Sandpipers and Piping Plovers are also significant.

Old Wives Lake is a large and relatively shallow, intermittent saline lake. It is characterized by

severe seasonal water fluctuations which results in large expanses of mudflats due to the relatively flat aspect of the basin.

Reed Lake is a shallow, intermittent saline lake with large expanses of emergent vegetation, reed beds and shallow, flooded grassy shorelines. Areas of open mudflats occur on small segments of the shore.

These naturally occurring, inland lakes are located in the mixed-grass ecoregion of southern Saskatchewan. The soil conditions around Chaplin Lake and Old Wives Lake are most conducive to cattle grazing, thus pasture is the predominant land-use. Reed Lake, however, is surrounded by

cultivated fields of cereal grain crop and some pasture land.

Land Use:

Planned expansion of the solution mining operations on Chaplin Lake would include construction of additional dikes and berms on the northeast section of the lake and water levels would be manipulated. The northwest section of Chaplin Lake, which is the present site of the solution mining operations, is the prime feeding area for shorebirds. Future expansion could benefit shorebirds with an increase in shallow water areas and a resultant increase in available feeding habitat. The dikes may provide additional nesting area for resident shorebirds. The dikes on the new expansion area are to be fenced to prevent intrusion by cattle (pers. comm. mine manager).

A recent eco-tourism strategy has been developed for Chaplin Lake and substantial opportunities exist due to the proximity to the trans-Canada highway. Any developments must and will be screened to ensure that these activities do not harm or interfere with shorebirds. Access to the majority of the shorebird areas will be restricted by the mine operators because of liability concerns.

Protection:

No land use restrictions to date, however, select habitat may be included, in the future, under The Critical Wildlife Habitat Act.

Current Threats:

Climate plays a major role in the stability of Canada’s prairie wetlands. Continuous drought conditions threatens the viability of the site over the long term. The lower water levels could change the shoreline regime due to the invasion of various plant species. The water management on Chaplin Lake, for the sodium sulphate extraction process, had provided a stable source of water for shorebirds in the drought period of the 1980’s, whereas Old Wives Lake was nearly dry and Reed Lake had completely dried up.

Botulism outbreaks occur at Old Wives Lake and may have an affect on shorebirds during the late summer and early fall staging and migration.

Cattle trample some shoreline areas on the lakes where the Piping Plovers nest, but this is considered only a minor problem.

Major Causes of Disturbance:

Biology: What Shorebird Species Use This Site?

Species identified for the site (including all lakes):

All three lakes are used by shorebirds as feeding and roosting sites. The shallow sloping shoreline on both Old Wives and Reed Lakes provide ideal feeding sites for shorebirds. The various cells/basins of Chaplin Lake include freshwater basins for bathing/drinking while the salt basins are primarily used as feeding sites. Large concentrations of shorebirds have been observed using the dikes and islands on the west end of Chaplin Lake, as roosting sites during the day and in inclement weather.

The spring staging of Sanderlings at Old Wives and Chaplin Lakes is probably the key feature of this site. 55,767 birds were counted on 29 May 1994, which was the highest recorded count for a single day.

If we were to conservatively estimate a turnover rate of nine-ten days during the spring migration, then there would be an estimated use of the lakes by approximately 100,000 Sanderlings. The number of Sanderlings actually observed at Chaplin and Old Wives Lakes therefore represents a minimum of 50% of the flyway or west coast South American wintering population, or a minimum of 25% of the North American population. This percentage would be substantially higher if turnover rates were taken into consideration.

The peak counts of Stilt Sandpipers on these lakes during the 1994 spring migration totaled about 11,000 birds (minimum, given restricted access to Old Wives Lake). The Stilt Sandpiper population is estimated at 50,000+, thus given the counts on these three lakes during spring migration, is 22% of the population using the site.

The greatest use of the sites occurs during spring migration in May/June. The fact that there is a harvestable population of brine shrimp on Chaplin Lake may play a major role although the peak harvest of the shrimp occurs in late June/early July. There is some use of the area in the fall by migrant, arctic nesting shorebirds, but it is more intensively used as a staging area for local breeding birds. This is especially true after the young have fledged, as is evident by the high numbers of Wilson’s Phalaropes on Chaplin Lake in 1993 and 1994.

The site is of critical importance to other wildlife species. Migratory waterfowl, including various species of ducks, geese and swans, use all freshwater basins in this complex as a staging area in the fall. Nesting colonies of the following species occur on the islands of the three lakes, in the freshwater basins of Chaplin Lake, or in the marsh complex on the south end of Chaplin Lake: White Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Franklin’s Gull, and Western Grebe.

Recent Management & Research Activities

Information not available

Information Relating to WHSRN

Land Owners of Areas Signed on to WHSRN

The main area of shorebird use on Chaplin Lake is provincial Crown land under lease to Saskatchewan Minerals (Division of Goldcorp Inc.). The remainder of the lake is surrounded by private landowners, a provincial grazing cooperative, and a federal landholding under Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration of the Dept. of Agriculture. The water area to the high water mark is provincial Crown land.

Old Wives Lake is surrounded primarily by provincial Crown land under grazing lease holdings. The water area is provincial Crown land.

The water area of Reed Lake is provincial Crown land, surrounded by private landholders with parcels of Crown land (2,025 hectares) which have a reservation put on them by the Saskatchewan Wetland Conservation Corporation (SWCC), whereby these lands will eventually be controlled by SWCC. SWCC has an agreement to obtain title to 445 hectares of Crown land, currently owned by Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food, around Chaplin Lake as well as reservations on 810 hectares on Old Wives Lake.

Date Site Joined WHSRN: April 1997

Date of Dedication Ceremony Celebrating Chaplin Lake’s Inclusion in WHSRN:

Locally Involved Agencies, Communities & Organizations

§ Canada-Saskatchewan Agreement on Rural Development

§ Canada-Saskatchewan Agreement on Water Based Economic Development

§ Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada

§ Chaplin Lions Club

§ Ducks Unlimited Canada Office, P.O. Box 670, Wadena, Saskatchewan SOA 4JO 306-338-3677. (Wadena’s office number is also: 306-338-3677.)

§ Great Trails Getaway Region

§ IPSCO Inc.

§ Land of the Living Sky Tourism Association, c/o Chuck Dechamps.

§ Nebraska Game and Parks Commission

§ New Careers Corporation

§ Quill Lakes Nature Tours: 306-383-2616.

§ Rural Municipality of Chaplin

§ Saskatchewan Economic and Co-operative Development

§ Saskatchewan Minerals

§ SaskPower

§ Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management

§ Saskatchewan Wetland Conservation Corporation

§ The Nature Conservancy (U.S.)

§ Tourism Saskatchewan

§ TransCanada PipeLines

§ Village of Chaplin

§ Wildlife Habitat Canada

§ Wyoming Game and Fish Department

Local Communities

§ Chaplin: C.W. (Clem) Millar, PO Box 30, Chaplin, Saskatchewan S0H 0V0. Tel: 306-395-2545.

§ Town of Wynyard 306-554-2123

§ Village of Elfros 306-328-2123

§ Village of Quill Lakes 306-383-2592.

§ Village of Wadena. 306-338-2150

Local Activities:

Migration The Saskatchewan Wetland Conservation Corporation in cooperation with other agencies in the Government of Saskatchewan has constructed an interpretation facility overlooking the lake. The site also borders the Trans-Canada Highway which has a high volume of people traveling past this site. It hopes to promote a number of ideas at the site which includes WHSRN, the importance of the area to shorebirds and other wildlife, and the idea of ecotourism.

Bibliography

Morrison, R.I.G. and R.K. Ross. 1989. Atlas of Nearctic Shorebirds on the Coast of South America. Environment Canada/ Canadian Wildlife Service Special publication. 128 pp.

Morrison, R.I.G., A. Bourget, R. Butler, H.L. Dickson, C. Gratto-Trevor, P. Hicklin, C. Hyslp, and R.K. Ross. 1994. A Preliminary Assessment of the Status of Shorebird Populations in Canada. Canadian Wildlife Service Progress Notes No. 208, 17pp.

Myers, J.P., M. Sallaberry A., E. Ortiz, G. Castro, L.M. Gordon, J.L. Maron, C.T. Schick, E.Tabilo, P. Antas, and T. Below. 1990. Migration Routes of New World Sanderlings (Calidris alba). The Auk 107:172-18.

This site last updated June 2002