Sainte-Anne River

Last updated
Rivière Sainte-Anne
Riviere Ste-Anne.jpg
The gorges of the Sainte-Anne river in Saint-Alban.
Location
Country Canada
Province Quebec
Region Capitale-Nationale, Mauricie
Regional County Municipality La Côte-de-Beaupré Regional County Municipality, La Jacques-Cartier Regional County Municipality, Portneuf Regional County Municipality, Les Chenaux Regional County Municipality
Municipalities Saint-Raymond
Physical characteristics
Source Sainte-Anne Lake
  location Lac-Croche in Laurentides Wildlife Reserve
  coordinates 47°17′06″N71°39′36″W / 47.285°N 71.66°W / 47.285; -71.66
  elevation656 m (2,152 ft)
Mouth Estuary of Saint Lawrence
  location
Saint-Anne-de-la-Pérade
  coordinates
46°33′13″N72°12′22″W / 46.55361°N 72.20611°W / 46.55361; -72.20611 Coordinates: 46°33′13″N72°12′22″W / 46.55361°N 72.20611°W / 46.55361; -72.20611
  elevation
1 m (3.3 ft)
Length123 km (76 mi)
Discharge 
  location Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade
Basin features
Tributaries 
  left(Upward from the mouth) rivière aux Ours, cours d'eau Notre-Dame, Tourilli River, décharge du lac Ball, décharge des lacs Nolin et Johnson, décharge du lac Noyade, décharge des lacs Carreau et Coeur.
  right(Upward from the mouth) Charest River, ruisseau Baillargeon, ruisseau Tessier, Niagarette River, Noire River, ruisseau Sauvageau, Jacquot River, Petit ruisseau l'Heureux, bras du Nord, Verte River, Talayarde River, ruisseau aux Cascades, décharge du lac Chauveau, ruisseau du Pimbina, Chézine River, décharge du lac Henri, décharge du lac Mersac.
Riviere Ste-Anne, upstream of St-Casimir Riviere Ste-Anne.jpg
Rivière Ste-Anne, upstream of St-Casimir

The Sainte-Anne River is a tributary of the Saint Lawrence River in the province of Quebec, Canada.

Contents

It is well known for ice fishing, with the primary catch being Tomcod, (poulamon in French), during the winter at Ste-Anne-de-la-Pérade. A small village builds up from the end of December to mid-February.

It is also regionally known for flooding, especially in St-Raymond, and sometimes in St-Casimir.

The river has its source in the Reserve des Laurentides and flows through St-Raymond, St-Casimir and Ste-Anne-de-la-Pérade to empty into the north shore of the Saint Lawrence.

Toponymy

The origin of the name of the river is unknown [1] . Samuel de Champlain gave it the name of Sainte-Marie river in 1609 without specifying its reasons [1] . It was registered under the name of Sainte-Anne river on the map of Jean Bourdon of 1641, an appellation which quickly became essential [1] . The Hurons, meanwhile, call it "Telahiar" [1] .

Geography

Course

Sainte-Anne begins its course at 656 metres (2,152 ft) above sea level in the Laurentides. It originates in Lac Sainte-Anne in the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve. The river flows mainly in a south-westerly direction over a length of 123 kilometres (76 mi) to Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, and finally empties into the St. Lawrence river at sea level [2] [ full citation needed ].

Hydrology

The watershed has an area of 2,694 kilometres (1,673.97 mi) [2] . Its average flow at its mouth is 78 m3/s [3] . The main tributaries of the river are, from upstream to downstream, the Tourilli River, the Chézine River, the Talayarde River, the Bras du Nord, Jacquot River, Black River, Blanche River, Niagarette River and Charest River [4] [ full citation needed ]. It also includes 900 kilometres (560 mi) of watercourse [5] . The basin includes 828 lakes, the most important of which are Lakes Montauban, Long, Blanche, Carillon and Clair [4] .

Geology

Sainte-Anne is part of two geological provinces. Upstream of Saint-Alban, the subsoil is part of the Laurentides, and is composed of igneous rocks and metamorphic, mainly gneiss and granite, resistant to erosion [6] [ full citation needed ]. The river enters the St. Lawrence Lowlands downstream from Saint-Alban and the source rock consists mainly of limestone and shale from the Paleozoic. [6]

The whole is covered with marine and continental deposits from the Quaternary, the thickness of which is approximately 40 metres (130 ft) in the St. Lawrence Lowlands and less than 5 metres (16 ft) in the Laurentians [7] .

Population

It is estimated that there were approximately 16000 people who lived in the Sainte-Anne basin in 2001 [8] [ full citation needed ]. The town of Saint-Raymond alone has half the population of the [8] basin. Four other villages are located on the course of the river, namely Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne, Saint-Alban, Saint-Casimir and Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade.

Natural environments

Forest in the Bras du Nord valley Le quai Bras du nord St-Raymond Portneuf Quebec Canada.jpg
Forest in the Bras du Nord valley

The north of the basin is included in the zecs of zec de la Rivière-Blanche and Batiscan-Neilson as well as the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve. The southwest of the basin is included in the Lacs-Long-et-Montauban Regional Park [9] [ full citation needed ].

The forest dominates, occupying 80% of the hydrographic basin. The public forest, which includes 56% of the forest area, is composed of 58% of mixed forests, 26% of coniferouss and 16% of broadleaveds [10] [ full citation needed ]. The basin extends over four bioclimatics areas, namely maple grove to linden, maple grove to yellow birch, the fir with yellow birch and the fir white birch [10] .

The river and its tributaries is frequented by 33 species of fish [11] . The main species used for sport fishing living in the river are brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), walleye (Sander vitreus) and the smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) [12] [ full citation needed ].

Atlantic tomcod (Microgadus tomcod)) POULAMON2.JPG
Atlantic tomcod (Microgadus tomcod))

The river is also recognized as an important spawning ground for the [Atlantic tomcod] (Microgadus tomcod). There are between 600 and {800 million of individuals who come to breed in the river between December and February, two million of which are fished each year [13] . The spawning ground would have been created in 1894 by a major landslide at Saint-Alban, giving the river a bottom of sand and gravel ideal for the reproduction of fish [12] .

History

The river was known to the Iroquoians of the Saint-Laurent who already practiced there ice fishing around the year 1000 [14] .

The Atlantic tomcod population was rediscovered in the river in 1938 [14] . Ice fishing quickly became a popular activity, developing a village up to 1200 huts [14] . The combined pressure of commercial fishing and sport fishing caused the decline of the fish population [15] . To remedy this decline, a moratorium on commercial fishing was decreed in 1992 which enabled the tomcod population to recover [14] .

Layout

Dam at Ford Fall, Sainte-Anne river, close to Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne. Ste-Anne Pano 2011.jpg
Dam at Ford Fall, Sainte-Anne river, close to Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne.

There are five dams on the Sainte-Anne river, three of which are used for hydroelectric production [16] . These are the power stations of Saint-Alban (8.2 megawatts (11,000 hp)), Chutes-à-Gorry (10.76 megawatts (14,430 hp)) and Glenford (4.2 megawatts (5,600 hp)) [16] .

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Rivière Sainte-Anne". Commission de toponymie. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  2. 1 2 ( Sainte-Anne Development and Protection Corporation 2006 , p. 1)
  3. 1 2 ( Sainte-Anne Development and Protection Corporation 2006 , pp. 7–8)
  4. 1 2 ( Corporation for the Development and Protection of Sainte-Anne 2006 , pp. 6–7)
  5. 1 2 ( Corporation for the development and protection of Sainte-Anne 2006 , pp. 10–11)
  6. ( Sainte-Anne Development and Protection Corporation 2006 , p. 2)
  7. 1 2 ( Sainte-Anne Development and Protection Corporation 2006 , p. 16)
  8. "Fish diversity: Sainte-Anne river catchment area". Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  9. 1 2 ( Sainte-Anne Development and Protection Corporation 2006 , pp. 38–39)
  10. Beaudry, René-Pierre (18 January 2011). "Claude Valade in the Kingdom of small fish in the channels". Laurentides Express.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "History". Association of small fish fishing outfitters in the channels inc. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  12. 1 2 "Bassin de la rivière Sainte-Anne". Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife. Retrieved February 28, 2011.

Bibliography

See also

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