The lake gets its name from the method used by First Nations people to capture the bison using the natural topography as corrals or buffalo pounds.

[3] The lake provides drinking water for the cities of Regina, Moose Jaw, and the Mosaic Company potash mine at Belle Plaine, approximately 25% of the province's population.

It is also used for recreational purposes such as camping, boating, and fishing and is home to a host of fish species including walleye, sauger, yellow perch, northern pike, cisco, mooneye, lake whitefish, white sucker, channel catfish, burbot, bigmouth buffalo, and common carp.

The Qu'Appelle River was dammed by the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) in 1939 to control fluctuating water levels.

This, however, has flushed the lake out and allowed excessive algae growth, which reduced the popularity of swimming and boating during the summer months and raised the cost of water treatment.

It consists mostly of native grasslands and provides habitat to a variety of wildlife, including animals on Canada's Species at Risk Act, such as the American badger, Baird’s sparrow, bobolink, northern leopard frog, and Sprague’s pipit.