Lake Cacaoui

Lake Cacaoui is in the unorganized territory of Lac-Walker, part of the Sept-Rivières Regional County Municipality.

The Cacaoui River leaves the west of the lake and runs north through a stretch of rapids into the Sainte-Marguerite River.

Little Lake Cacaoui (Petit lac Cacaoui) connects to the main lake at its south end.{{sfn|Lac Cacaoui, Ressources naturelles}}

The lake is at an elevation of {{convert|432|m}}.{{sfn|Lac Cacaoui, Mapcarta}}

It is about {{convert|80|km}} northwest of Sept-Îles.{{sfn|Lac Cacaoui, Commission de toponymie}}

The name "Cacaoui" is a variant of kakawi, the local name of the long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis).

According to Placide Vigneau (1842−1926), who wrote about the Mingan Archipelago and Havre-Saint-Pierre, the duck's name should be written as kakawit, and the local people of the Havre-Saint-Pierre region pronounce it as cacaoite.

The duck is loquacious, with a musical call that sounds like "ah-ah-wè", which may be the basis for the name.

The name was approved by the Geography Commission in 1945.{{sfn|Lac Cacaoui, Commission de toponymie}}

IOC (Iron Ore Company), a Rio Tinto subsidiary, owns the SM-2 hydroelectric plant on the Sainte-Marguerite River.

IOC also owned the wooden dam on the Cacaoui Lake reservoir.{{sfn|Rapport sur le développement durable 2010}}

This dam was built in 1950.{{sfn|X2091009}}

It had fallen into decay and was dismantled in 2010 and replaced with a structure of local rocks to naturally control the water flowing into the western part of the lake.{{sfn|Rapport sur le développement durable 2010}}

The work was done by the Groupe Nordique, and involved dismantling several buildings and dams, and recovering iron.{{sfn|Groupe Nordique Réalisations}}

The rockfill weir is {{convert|1.5|m}} high and {{convert|15|m}} long.

The reservoir has an area of {{convert|1750.3|ha}}.

The watershed covers {{convert|134|km2}}.{{sfn|X2091009}}

The lake is in the boreal climate zone.{{sfn|Peel|Finlayson |McMahon|2007}}

A map of the Ecological regions of Quebec places the lake in the 6J-S ecological subregion, part of the eastern spruce/moss domain of the boreal zone.{{sfn|Saucier|Robitaille|Grondin|Bergeron|2011}}

The average annual temperature in the neighborhood is {{convert|-3|C}}.

The warmest month is July, when the average temperature is {{convert|13|C}}, and the coldest is January, with {{convert|-20|C}}.{{sfn|NASA Earth Observations Data Set Index}}

The region is one of mountains that rise high above their surroundings, with rocky escarpments.

The network of lakes and rivers is enclosed in narrow valleys.{{sfn|Forêt ancienne du Lac-Cacaoui|p=1}}

The Forêt ancienne du Lac-Cacaoui (Lake Cacaoui Old Growth Forest), an exceptional forest ecosystem occupies part of the southern shore of the lake.{{sfn|Forêt ancienne du Lac-Cacaoui|p=2}}

The forest contains small islands of a few hectares of Picea glauca (white spruce) up to {{convert|33|m}} high within stands of Picea mariana (black spruce).

The spruce is dominated by Abies balsamea (balsam fir), which is well adapted to the cold and damp climate.{{sfn|Forêt ancienne du Lac-Cacaoui|p=1}}

The {{convert|0.45|km2}} area of old-growth forest was designated IUCN Management Category III at a national level in 2008.

It is managed by the Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs.{{sfn|Forêt ancienne du Lac-Cacaoui in Canada}}

The lake is within the Matimek zone d'exploitation contrôlée (controlled use zone).

The Zec rents a cabin to visitors that can sleep four people.

The cabin has a wood stove, propane fridge and cooker, and solar electricity supplying the lighting system.{{sfn|Hébergement & camping, Zec Matimek}}

In September 2018 two brothers died in a boating accident on the lake.

This part of the lake is over {{convert|300|ft}} deep in places, and divers were unable to find the bodies.{{sfn|Morasse|2018}}

{{notes}}{{reflist|30em}}

{{commons category|Lac Cacaoui}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{citation |url=https://mffp.gouv.qc.ca/publications/forets/connaissances/ecosystemes-cacaoui.pdf |accessdate=2019-09-12 |language=fr

|title=Forêt ancienne du Lac-Cacaoui |publisher=Ressources naturelles et la Faune, Québec|ref={{harvid|Forêt ancienne du Lac-Cacaoui}} }}

• {{citation |url=https://www.protectedplanet.net/foret-ancienne-du-lac-cacaoui-old-growth-forest |accessdate=2019-09-12

|title=Forêt ancienne du Lac-Cacaoui in Canada |ref={{harvid|Forêt ancienne du Lac-Cacaoui in Canada}} |work=Protected Plant}}

• {{citation |url=https://www.equipementsnordiques.com/fr/groupe-nordique-r%C3%A9alisations |accessdate=2019-09-16 |language=fr

|title=Groupe Nordique Réalisations |publisher=Groupe Nordique |ref={{harvid|Groupe Nordique Réalisations}} }}

• {{citation |url=https://zecmatimek.reseauzec.com/hebergement-camping |accessdate=2019-09-16 |language=fr

|title= Hébergement & camping |publisher=Zec Matimek |ref={{harvid|Hébergement & camping, Zec Matimek}} }}

• {{citation |url=http://www.toponymie.gouv.qc.ca/ct/ToposWeb/Fiche.aspx?no_seq=9553 |accessdate=2019-09-16 |language=fr

|title=Lac Cacaoui |publisher=Commission de toponymie du Québec |ref={{harvid|Lac Cacaoui, Commission de toponymie}} }}

• {{citation |url=https://mapcarta.com/24350850 |accessdate=2019-09-12

|title=Lac Cacaoui |work=Mapcarta |ref={{harvid|Lac Cacaoui, Mapcarta}} }}

• {{citation |url=http://www4.rncan.gc.ca/recherche-de-noms-de-lieux/unique/EFSJR |accessdate=2019-09-12

|title=Lac Cacaoui |publisher=Ressources naturelles Canada |ref={{harvid|Lac Cacaoui, Ressources naturelles}} }}

• {{citation |url=https://lenord-cotier.com/noyades-au-lac-cacaoui-elles-ont-nage-des-heures-pour-survivre/ |accessdate=2019-09-16 |language=fr

|last=Morasse |first=Mathieu |title=Noyades au lac Cacaoui : elles ont nagé des heures pour survivre |date=20 September 2018 |journal=Le Nord-Côtier}}

• {{citation |url=https://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/dataset_index.php |ref={{harvid|NASA Earth Observations Data Set Index}} |title=NASA Earth Observations Data Set Index |publisher=NASA |accessdate=2016-01-30 |archive-date=2015-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150306025403/https://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/dataset_index.php |url-status=dead }}
• {{citation |journal= Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |issue=11 |pages=1633-1644 |doi=10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007

|last1=Peel |first1=MC |last2=Finlayson |first2=BL|last3=McMahon |first3=TA |year=2007 |title=Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification|doi-access=free }}

• {{citation |url=http://www.ironore.ca/data/65-iocv5/ressources/documents/sys_docs/2010_sd_report_fr.pdf |accessdate=2019-09-16 |ref={{harvid|Rapport sur le développement durable 2010}}

|title=Rapport sur le développement durable 2010 |publisher=Rio Tinto IOC |language=fr}}

• {{citation |type=map |url=https://mffp.gouv.qc.ca/forets/inventaire/pdf/carte-regions-ecologiques.pdf |accessdate=2019-09-14 |language=fr |last1=Saucier |first1=J.-P. |first2=A. |last2=Robitaille |first3=P. |last3=Grondin |first4=J.-F. |last4=Bergeron |first5=J. |last5=Gosselin |title=Les régions écologiques du Québec méridional |version=4 |publisher=Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune |year=2011 |archive-date=2020-06-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619124205/https://mffp.gouv.qc.ca/forets/inventaire/pdf/carte-regions-ecologiques.pdf |url-status=dead }}
• {{citation |url=https://www.cehq.gouv.qc.ca/barrages/detail.asp?no_mef_lieu=X2091009 |accessdate=2019-09-16 |language=fr |ref={{harvid|X2091009}}

|title=X2091009 |work=Répertoire des barrages |publisher=Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques (MDDELCC)}}

{{refend}}

{{Sept-Rivières RCM}}

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Category:Lakes of Côte-Nord