Pakowki Lake

 ( County Of Forty Mile No. 8 ) 

Pakowki Lake is an endorheic lake in Alberta, Canada located south of Etzikom, Alberta and not far north is the former town site of Pakowki which may have received its name from the lake.

It is located in the prairies of Southern Alberta, at an elevation of , in the County of Forty Mile No. 8. It is fed by a number of and creeks, such as Etzikom Coulee, Irrigation Creek, Erickson Coulee, Ketchum Creek, Canal Creek, Bond Coulee and Bryant Coulee, and has no outflow. Reaching a maximum extent of , it is one of the largest lakes in the province.

The name means "bad water" in Blackfoot language, named so for the bad smell caused by the lack of an outflow. While it is the largest water body in southern Alberta, its waters are intermittent, and it can be classified as a slough. In times of flooding, the lake overflows through a channel into the Milk River, which flows south of the lake.

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Conservation The Pakowki Lake Provincial Bird Sanctuary is established on and around the lake, which provides congregations of waterfowl and , as a staging area for migration along the western flyway. The lake is designated an important bird area and listed by Bird Studies Canada and Bird Life International as globally significant but none of the lake has federal or provincial protected status.

Species of birds observed at the lake include double-crested cormorant, black-crowned night-heron, marsh wren, cinnamon teal and American bittern.

Mammals such as , , , and are commonly found on the shores as well.

The lake lies in a sand dune-wetland environment of the grassland biome. Flora on the lake shores consists of threatened western Tradescantia ( Tradescantia occidentalis), vulnerable smooth Chenopodium ( Chenopodium subglabrum), Great Basin Downingia and Eriogonum ( Eriogonum deflexum).

The lake contains no fish species.

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Avian botulism In high water years, the lake kills hundreds of thousands of birds due to avian botulism. Government studies conclude that nothing can be done to prevent the botulism.

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