Lake Traverse is the southernmost body of water in the Hudson Bay watershed of North America. It lies along the border between the U.S. states of Minnesota and South Dakota. A low continental divide separates the land at the southern shore of Lake Traverse from the Little Minnesota River, which is part of the Mississippi River system and flows within a mile of the lake near the town of Browns Valley, Minnesota. A body of water is any significant pool of water covering the Earth or another planet. ... Hudson Bay is a large body of water in northeastern Canada. ... A watershed or catchment basin is the region of land whose water drains into a specified body of water, such as a river, lake, sea, or ocean. ... It has been suggested that Northern America be merged into this article or section. ... Border has several different, but related meanings: Generic borders A border can consist of a margin around the edge of something, such as a lawn, garden, photograph, or sheet of paper. ... For other uses, see United States (disambiguation) and US (disambiguation). ... State nickname: North Star State Other U.S. States Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) Official languages None Area 225,365 km² (12th)  - Land 206,375 km²  - Water 18,990 km² (8. ... State nickname: The Mount Rushmore State Other U.S. States Capital Pierre Largest city Sioux Falls Governor Mike Rounds (R) Official languages English Area 199,905 km² (17th)  - Land 196,735 km²  - Water 3,173 km² (1. ... The Continental Divide is the border between the red and green areas The Continental Divide or Great Divide is a ridge of mountains in North America, which separates the watershed area of streams and rivers that flow west into the Pacific Ocean from those that flow east into the Arctic... Length 6,270 km Elevation of the source 450 m Average discharge Saint Louis¹: 5,500 m³/s Vicksburg²: 16,800 m³/s Baton Rouge³: 12,800 m³/s Area watershed 2,980,000 km² Origin  Lake Itasca Mouth  Gulf of Mexico Basin countries United States (98. ... Browns Valley is a city located in Traverse County, Minnesota. ...

The lake is drained at its north end by the northward-flowing Bois de Sioux River, a tributary of the Red River of the North. A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam at the outflow regulates the lake's level. A tributary (or affluent or confluent) is a contributory stream, a river that does not reach the sea, but joins another major river (a parent river), to which it contributes its waters, swelling its discharge. ... See also the Red River disambiguation page. ... United States Army Corps of Engineers logo The United States Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE, is made up of some 34,600 civilian and 650 military men and women. ... Scrivener Dam, Canberra Australia, was engineered to withstand a once-in-5000-years flood event A dam is a barrier across flowing water that obstructs, directs or retards the flow, often creating a reservoir, lake or impoundment. ...

Prehistorically, the south end of Lake Traverse was a southern outflow of glacial Lake Agassiz into the present-day Minnesota River. Prehistory (Greek words προ = before and ιστορία = history) is the period of human history including all previous history before humans which is prior to the advent of writing (which marks the beginning of recorded history). ... Lake Agassiz was an immense lake—bigger than all of the present-day Great Lakes combined—in the center of North America, which was fed by glacial runoff at the end of the last ice age. ... The Minnesota River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the state of Minnesota in the United States. ...

See also

• List of Minnesota lakes
• List of South Dakota lakes
• List of lakes