Thunder Creek (Saskatchewan)

Thunder Creek
The Red River drainage basin, with the Qu'Appelle River highlighted
Location of the mouth in Saskatchewan Show map of Saskatchewan Thunder Creek (Saskatchewan) (Canada) Show map of Canada
Location
Country	Canada
Provinces	Saskatchewan
Physical characteristics
Source	Man-made reservoir
• location	RM of Enfield No. 194
• coordinates	50°47′10″N 106°48′06″W / 50.7861°N 106.8017°W / 50.7861; -106.8017
Mouth	Moose Jaw River
• location	City of Moose Jaw
• coordinates	50°23′14″N 105°31′46″W / 50.3871°N 105.5295°W / 50.3871; -105.5295
• elevation	557 m (1,827 ft)
Basin features
River system	Qu'Appelle River
Tributaries
• right	Sandy Creek

Thunder Creek^[1] is a river in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The watershed of Thunder Creek is within the semi-arid Palliser's Triangle in south-central Saskatchewan. It begins at small, man-made reservoir near Lake Diefenbaker and flows in a south-easterly direction towards the city of Moose Jaw and the Moose Jaw River. The Moose Jaw River is a major tributary of the Qu'Appelle River^[2] For most of its course, Thunder Creek follows a valley called the Thunder Creek meltwater channel that was formed over 10,000 years ago near the end of the last ice age.^[3]

During the drought of the 1980s, the river, and the marshes and lakes along its course, almost ran dry. To stabilise water levels, a reservoir was built at the head of the river. The reservoir is supplied by pumping in water from nearby Lake Diefenbaker.