Southern Saskatchewan: Big valleys

Geoscience for Prairie communities

Our big valleys: vital multi-use corridors

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Large valleys, such as the Qu'Appelle and Souris river valleys, are major landscape features of vital importance to southern Saskatchewan. These valleys provide for diverse uses - water storage, farmland, wetland habitat, woodlands, gravel pits, and even ski areas. Try to imagine Saskatchewan without its valleys!

Characteristics of a Saskatchewan valley
Duncairn Dam, near Swift Current and Valley-floor gravel pit, North Battleford
Wapiti Valley Ski Area, Saskatchewan River valley and Irrigrated cropland, Qu'Appelle River valley
Deer in coulee, Valley wetland, and Blackstrap reservoir

A puzzle:

Many large valleys such as the Qu'Appelle, Souris, and Frenchman contain streams that are too small to have carved them. How did these valleys form?