Little Limestone Lake Park Reserve
Land Designation
Park Reserve
Landscape Description
The 4,095 hectare Little Limestone Lake Park Reserve is
located amid unique "karst" (limestone) geology in the Manitoba
Lowlands region. Located just north of Grand Rapids, this
distinctive landscape is pockmarked with sinkholes and underlain
by caves that have been largely shaped by the dissolving action
of water on the limestone bedrock.
Outstanding Features
Little Limestone Lake is a majestic turquoise body of water.
It is a marl lake that visibly changes colour as the calcite in
the water, dissolved from the limestone bedrock, chemically
reacts to the heat of the sun. On hot days the water turns a
rich milky blue. It is considered by experts to be the largest
and most outstanding example of a marl lake in the world.
The Little
Limestone Lake Park Reserve lies in the traditional territory of
Mosakahiken
Cree Nation. All of the eastern shore of the lake
is reserve land and the community will play a role in managing
and protecting the lake.
Little
Limestone Lake overlies the Thompson Nickel Belt, an area of
high mineral potential. The park reserve was designated
in co-operation with the mining industry. Xstrata Corporation made protection of Little Limestone Lake
possible by removing its mining claims under and adjacent to the
lake.
Designation
of Little Limestone Lake as a park reserve will provide
protection for the lake while allowing time for a public
review to take place on management of the lake and the future of
this area. Little Limestone Lake Park Reserve is categorized as
an IUCN (World Conservation Union) protected area management
category III, that is, a protected area managed mainly for
conservation of a specific natural feature of outstanding or
unique value.
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