User:RM.Fawcett/North Barrière Lake

North Barrière (/baʀjɛʀ/) Lake, located in the Interior of British Columbia (BC), is north-east of the town of Barriere (/ˈbɛriər/) { "type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [ {     "type": "Feature", "properties": {}, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -119.83649826259355,         51.33684292765569        ]      }    }  ] } which is 63 km north of Kamloops. Once part of the dam system that powered Kamloops, the lake is now a popular summer destination spot for campers who can rent campsites from the North Barrière Lake Resort or the North Barrière Recreation Site. It is also used as a summer destination spot by the families who own land on the lake.

As part of a fertile region of the province, the mountains surrounding the lake are actively logged throughout the year. The lake is a good location for sport fishing as it is well stocked with many kinds of fish. It is also part of the Thompson River Salmon Run. The lake is also a nursery lake for Sockeye salmon.

Location
North Barrière Lake is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, which is part of the Humid Continental Highlands Ecodomain of BC. North Barrière Lake is north-east of Barrière, a town 63 km north of Kamloops. The town of Barriere and North Barrière Lake are located on the traditional lands of the Simpcw First Nation band. The approximate center of the lake is 51°20'07"N, 119°50'20"W. The lake is accessed by North Barrière Lake Forest Service Road, a turn-off from Barriere Lakes Road.

Size
The lake is approximately 520 hectares (1315 acres) with a shoreline of approximately 49 km (30.4 mi). The surface area of the lake is approximately 5.2 km2 with a mean depth of 35 m with an elevation of 635 m.

Surrounding Features
The lake is surrounded by an old growth forest consisting of a mix of Interior Douglas Fir, Interior Cedar-Hemlock, and Engelmann Spruce (Subalpine Fir) and Montane Spruce. This forest has supplied the logging industry with trees for harvest for many years.

The lake is surrounded by mountains on all sides with the Barrière River making up the main inflow and outflow of the lake. The lake’s water sources are Barrière River, Harper Creek, and Vermelin Creek.

Barrière River is fed by the mountain streams originating from the southern slopes of Vavenby Mountain and Fennell Creek (fed by the creeks from the east slopes of Vavenby Mountain). Barrière River is the main water source for the lake. The inflow of the river is at the east end of the lake and the outflow is at the west end. Separate from the flow of Barrière River, Harper Creek and Vermelin Creek feed into the west end of the lake. The streams feeding Barrière River and the creeks begin as high as 1800m above sea level.

Along with North Barrière Lake, Barrière River also feeds Saskum Lake which is north-east of the lake and can be accessed from North Barrière Lake Forest Service Road. The river is a tributary of the North Thompson River.

The mountain range surrounding the lake consists of Harp Mountain, at the west-end of the lake, Dunn Peak, further west towards the town, Saskum Mountain, to the southeast of the lake, and the mountains behind the cabins on the east end of the lake, referred to as Shuswap Highland.

Weather
As part of the Humid Continental Highlands Ecodomain, and near the cross-section between the Central Interior, Southern Interior, and Southern Interior Mountains Ecoprovinces of BC, the climate is temperate. The average annual temperature is 5.9 °C (42.7 °F) with an average precipitation of 904 mm per year. July is the hottest month of the year with an average temperature of 19.2 °C (66.5 °F) and January is the coldest month of the year with an average low temperature of -6.6 °C (20.1°F).

Use
Long before the trappers and new settlers arrived in the area, members of the local First Nations tribes inhabited the area and lived off of the land.

After the area was settled by the trappers and others, the lake was used as part of the dam system on Barrière River that powered Kamloops, BC. The dams and flume on the river operated from 1914 to 1951. North Barrière Lake was used as a reservoir during this time.

Habitat damage
The lake had a natural population of Sockeye Salmon which nested in the Barrière River and were reared in the lake. When the Dam was implemented, the Salmon run was irreparably damaged causing the original population to die out.

After the dam was removed, a new population of Salmon from a hatchery were transplanted into the lake to rebuild what was lost. Today's population is endangered after a slow decline in mature Salmon since the 1980s.

Mid-20th century to today
Aside from the recreation site and the resort, there are about 40 privately owned properties on the north side of the east end of the lake.

Today, the lake is used for camping, water sports, and beach activities. The North Barriere Lake Resort is located at kilometer sixteen on the north-east side of the lake. The family owned cabins stretch from east side of the resort to the end of the lake on the north-east side.

Name
The lake is named after its relative location to the town of Barrière. Supposedly, the name of the town comes from French Canadian trappers travelling along the North Thompson River in the late 1800s. During their travels, they arrived at Barrière River while it was flooded. Seeing that they could not cross the river they called the area "La Barrière" (The Barriere). The town was officially named Barriere in 1914.

Originally the town name did not include the grave accent over the first ‘e.’ This was later rectified and maps where reprinted with the proper French spelling, Barrière.

The lake itself received its official name on July 27th, 1966.

Wildfires
There have been a large number of wildfires in the region over the past two decades. One of the most notable is that of the McLure Forest Fire in 2003. To help reduce the chances of fires breaking out, the province often issued fire bans in areas which are considered high risk due to their weather reports. In 2021 alone, 452 wildfires burned in the region overseen by the Kamloops Fire Center and nearly 500 000 hectares burned. Due to the weather patterns within the province, smoke from wildfires within the province will sock in the valley.

Tourism
As a fairly small lake compared to its neighbours, East Barrière Lake and Adams Lake, North Barrière Lake is less busy than them. The North Barrière Lake Resort is located at kilometer sixteen of the service road, which is in the eastern half of the lake on the north side. All of the family-owned cabins and land are along north side of the east end of the lake, east of the resort.

The lake is known for water activities, the beaches, fishing and geocaching in the summer and ice fishing and snowmobiling in the winter. The resort rents out RV pads, campsites, and cabins. The resort offers a boat launch, tables, bathroom facilities, and a small convenience store within the main office onsite for use. The Group Site, formerly the Girl Guide Camp, is just west of the Resort and recreation site. It can be rented out for families and group events. Normally, people could mall the office of the resort to book reservations; however, Due to COVID-19, campsites are now first come, first serve.

The North Barriere Recreation Site is open from May 15th to September 20th. It has 25 campsites available for rent as well as a boat launch, toilets, and tables available for use.

Visitors go to town for such things as playing a round of golf at Chinook Cove Golf Course, and the North Thompson Fall Fair and Rodeo. The rodeo comes to town annually during Labor Day weekend. There are snowshoeing and cross-country skiing opportunities on the Barrière Lake Ski Trails at Barrière Forks Regional Park along Barrière River.

Fishing
North Barrière Lake is popular for fishing. It has a hotspot at the mouth of the inflow from the river on the east end of the lake. The lake supports wild stock Rainbow trout sport fisheries. The competitive species of fish in the lake include Prickly Sculpin, Largescale Sucker, Brook Trout, Kokanee, Mountain Whitefish, Northern Pikeminnow, Rainbow Trout, Redside Shiner, and Sockeye Salmon.

In order to fish at the lake, all adults must have a fishing license and follow proper protocol for the restrictions on where and when fishing is allowed to take places as well as the quota for the size and amount of fish each person is allowed to catch at a time.

The Thompson River Salmon Run
North Barrière Lake plays an important role in the Thompson River Salmon Run as the only sockeye nursery lake on the North Thompson River. Sockeye salmon in North Barrière Lake are currently labelled as "Threatened" by the Government of Canada.

The Barrière River is a leg of the North Thompson section of the salmon run. The salmon run goes from Fennell Creek into Barrière River then feeds into the North Thompson River. The North Thompson River feeds into the Fraser River which feeds into the Pacific Ocean.