| Feature Type: | Lake - Inland body of standing water. |
| Status: | Official |
| Name Authority: | BC Geographical Names Office |
| Relative Location: | S end of Elk Lake in Saanich Municipality, just N of Victoria, Lake Land District |
| Latitude-Longitude: | 48°30'50"N, 123°23'44"W at the approximate centre of this feature. |
| Datum: | WGS84 |
| NTS Map: | 92B/11 |
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Origin Notes and History:
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Adopted 16 January 1958 as a well-known local name, first labelled on J.D. Pemberton's 1855 map of "Southeastern Districts of Vancouver Island." Name identified for use on National Defence sheet, Saanich, 1945, but not used. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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Beaver and Elk Lakes were originally 2 separate lakes. c1895, when used as the water supply for Victoria, the level of Beaver Lake was raised, effectively joining this waterbody to Elk Lake. For a long time this name was not used on maps, nor did it appear in gazetteers, because it was no longer a distinct feature. However, the name is too well established locally not to be shown on maps. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |