Forest Reserves and River Gauging 

In addition to planning the Cypress Lake and Middle Creek Reservoirs the Department of the Interior also established a forest reserve to protect the headwaters of the various rivers flowing north, west, east and south of the Cypress Hills and the collection of hydrometric data. The Cypress Hills Forest Reserve No. 1 was created in 1906 and located in Alberta while Cypress Hills Forest Reserve No. 2 was located in Saskatchewan.

The collection of hydrometric data began in 1894 on the Elbow River at Calgary. The extension of this river gauging activity to the south slope of the Cypress Hill began in 1908 with measurements of flow taken at Ten Mile Police Detachment, R. W. Wilkes’s Ranch, Stirling’s Ranch, Nash’s Ranch and at the international boundary.  The collection of hydrometric data had a special significance for the Cypress Hills since Battle and Lodge Creeks and the Frenchman River were subject to the terms of the International Waterways Treaty of 1909.  This treaty required that half of the water in Lodge and Battle Creeks and the Frenchman River was permitted to pass through to the United States.