System at a Glance
Source Type
Surface
Shoal Lake, ON/MB border · 154km aqueduct
Aqueduct
154 km
Gravity-fed · Built 1919 · 390 ML/day capacity
Restriction Stage
—
Loading…
Per-Capita Use
280
L/person/day · City of Winnipeg 2023
Live Water Stations
Red River at Emerson (US border)
05OG001
Discharge
—
m³/s
Level
—
m
Red River at Winnipeg
05OJ001
Discharge
—
m³/s
Level
—
m
Assiniboine River at Headingley
05QB004
Discharge
—
m³/s
Level
—
m
Infrastructure & Justice Context
The Greater Winnipeg Water District Aqueduct
Built between 1915 and 1919, the Greater Winnipeg Water District Aqueduct is one of the great engineering achievements of early 20th century Canada. At 154 km, it is one of the longest gravity-fed municipal water aqueducts in North America, moving water from Shoal Lake (Lake of the Woods) entirely by gravity — no pumps — to Winnipeg's Deacon Water Treatment Plant.
The aqueduct was designed by city engineers at a time when Winnipeg was the fastest-growing city in Canada, and when waterborne typhoid had killed hundreds. It worked exactly as designed for over 100 years before the Deacon WTP (2009) replaced the original treatment infrastructure built alongside it.
The aqueduct is the single most critical piece of infrastructure in Winnipeg's water system — a failure of the aqueduct would cut supply with no alternative conveyance at scale.
Aqueduct condition assessments are conducted periodically by the City of Winnipeg. Condition data is not publicly available in real-time.
Shoal Lake #40 — a century of injustice at the source
When Winnipeg built its aqueduct in 1919, the city constructed an artificial channel that turned the Shoal Lake #40 First Nation's peninsula into an island, cutting the community off from road access to the mainland for 100 years.
1919
Aqueduct construction isolates Shoal Lake #40 community on artificial island. Community's land and water expropriated.
1997
Shoal Lake #40 placed under boil water advisory. Winnipeg continues drawing drinking water from Shoal Lake.
2015
"Museum of Canadian Human Rights Violations" sign erected at community entrance — a direct response to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights opening in Winnipeg.
2019
Freedom Road completed — a 24km all-season road connecting Shoal Lake #40 to the mainland, ending 100 years of isolation. Funded jointly by federal, provincial, and municipal governments after years of advocacy.
2021
Boil water advisory lifted after 24 years. New water treatment infrastructure finally built for the community.
The Shoal Lake #40 story is inseparable from Winnipeg's water supply story. For over a century, a First Nation community was isolated and denied clean water while providing the source of drinking water for Canada's seventh-largest city.
Shoal Lake #40 First Nation → · City of Winnipeg — Shoal Lake →
Winnipeg Water System
Shoal Lake (Lake of the Woods)
→
154km Aqueduct (built 1919)
→
Deacon WTP (390 ML/day)
→
Distribution · 800K people
Egress: North End WPCC + South End WPCC → Red River · Shoal Lake level gauge: 05PB014
Station Map
Flow Profile
Scale:
Full Water Cycle
Treatment
Deacon WTP
390 ML/day · UV + Cl₂ + fluoride + orthophosphate · Opened 2009
Use
280 L/person/day
Residential 58% · Industrial 22% · Commercial 20%
Egress
North End + South End WPCC
Secondary treatment · Discharge: Red River · North End upgrades ongoing