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The
construction of the massive project began in 1959,
a monumental undertaking that entailed the development
of two dams and a massive reservoir in south-central
Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan Premier and then Federal
Minister of Agriculture James G. Gardiner, Prime Minister
John Diefenbaker and Premier Tommy Douglas, all played
significant roles in this ambitious undertaking. Officially
opened on July 21, 1967, the 64-meter tall, 5,000-meter
long structure took nearly 9 years to build and remains
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one
of the largest earth-filled dams in the world. It provides
drinking water to over 45% of the province’s
population and provides much-needed water for industry,
irrigation, recreation, wildlife habitat, flood protection
and power generation.
The
cost of constructing the Gardiner Dam and the Qu’Appelle
River Dam was approximately $120 million. To replace
the structures today would cost about $1 billion! |
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The
Gardiner Dam spillway was constructed from 260,000
cubic meters of concrete and is able to discharge a
remarkable 7,500 cubic meters of water per second.
That’s enough water to fill approximately 180
Olympic sized swimming pools per minute!
About 94% of the water released from Lake Diefenbaker passes through the penstocks
of the Coteau Creek Power Station to produce electricity for the province.
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