
55 
WATERFOWL INVESTIGATIONS AT WHITEWATER LAKE, MANITOBA - 1950 
Eugene F. Bossenmaier 
Whitewater Lake, located at the northern base of the Turtle Mountains in 
southwestern Manitoba, is one of the major moulting areas for dabbling ducks in the 
Province. During the past five summers an estimated 85, 000 waterfowl perished on 
the lake (See Special Scientific Report: Wildlife No. 2), and a relatively minor sick- 
ness recurred again this season, ; 
Proper management of the lake has been uncertain because essential physical, 
climatological, and biological information needed to understand the duck sickness was 
not available. Furthermore, the influence that will probably be exerted on the choice 
of a course of management by the numerous interests associated with the area was not 
known. i 
The investigations that began in April of this year had as their objectives 
a knowledge of the duck sickness and of the waterfowl populations and utilization of 
the lake, as well as a better understanding of all interests concerned with the area. 
The study was organized as a part of the cooperative waterfowl investigations 
in Manitoba for 1950. Organizations assisting were the Canadian Wildlife Service, 
Ducks Unlimited (Canada), United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Manitoba Game and 
Fisheries Branch, Wildlife Management Institute through the Delta Waterfowl Research 
Station, and the University of Minnesota. 
Field work was undertaken by the first three organizations mentioned. The 
Canadian Wildlife Service studied aspects of the duck sickness and their findings will 
be given separately. Ducks Unlimited (Canada) operated the duck hospital in the 
village of Whitewater. This report will present a brief summary of the phases 
pertaining to the waterfowl populations and utilization of the lake, and of the conditions 
of climate and habitat as they existed during the season. 
Area Description 
Whitewater Lake is roughly rectangular in outline, lying with its long axis 
in a west-southwestern direction. This year the lake, including flooded marsh lands, 
is approximately twelve miles long and four miles wide, covering some 25,000 acres. 
(See accompanying map) 
The average depth of the lake is four feet, with five and one-quarter feet 
being the deepest area sounded. The shore, except for restricted areas, is character- 
ized by wide stretches of feather-edge, in fact, along much of the shoreline a depth of 
three feet does not occur for a distance of a half mile or more from land. 
The lake proper is relatively free of emergent vegetation except for scattered 
hardstem bulrush (Scirpus acutus), and cattail patches (Typha latifolia and T. angusti- 
folia), and for dense stands of the same species plus reed grass (Phragmites maximus) 
in the southwestern, eastern, and northeastern sections of the lake. The lake proper 
is adjoined on the east by a flooded whitetop (Fluminea festucacea) marsh (average depth 
ten inches) covering approximately seYen square miles, and on the southwest by a 

similar marsh of about two square miles. 
Five islands and an exposed mud bar are present on the lake. The narrow 
and curved 210 acre wooded island situated in the north-central portion of the lake is 
considered "The Island" by the local residents. The other four islands are vegetatively 
