Saguenay
Saguenay is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 48.86°, -72.68°
About Saguenay
The Saguenay River (French: Rivière Saguenay, [ʁivjɛʁ saɡnɛ]) is a major river of Quebec, Canada.
Draining Lac Saint-Jean in the Laurentian Highlands, it leaves Alma and runs east. The city of Saguenay is on the river, which drains into the Saint Lawrence River. Tadoussac, which was founded as a French colonial trading post in 1600, is located on the northeast bank at this site.
The river has a very high flow-rate and is bordered by steep cliffs associated with the Saguenay Graben. Tide waters flow in its fjord upriver as far as Chicoutimi (about 100 kilometres). Many beluga whales breed in the cold waters at its mouth, which makes Tadoussac a popular site for whale watching and sea kayaking, and Greenland sharks also frequent the depths of the river. The area of the confluence of the Saguenay and Saint Lawrence is protected by the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park, one of Canada's national parks.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Saguenay River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Saguenay in Depth
Geography
The Saguenay originates in Lac Saint-Jean at Alma. There are two channels: La Petite Décharge and La Grande Décharge. The dam of the Île Maligne hydroelectric plant is built on the latter. The island formed by both rivers is part of the municipality of Alma. At this place, the water is freshwater. Three bridges cross La Petite Décharge, and two others cross La Grande Décharge. When both rivers meet just east of Alma, the Saguenay really begins. It begins in the form of a reservoir several kilometres long unlike the rapids and powerful falls that dotted the river before the erection of dams.
At Shipshaw, the Saguenay splits again into two. On the north side is the Shipshaw hydroelectric station, and on the south side is the Chute-à-Caron power plant.
History
First Nations people, including Innus, have inhabited the Saguenay Fjord area for thousands of years prior to the arrvival of the first Europeans. The first European to visit the area was Jacques Cartier, in 1535. After Samuel de Champlain established a fort in 1608 on the northern shores of the St. Lawrence River around present-day Quebec City, various Indigenous peoples, including Innu, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), Huron, Algonquins, and Cree, traded along the Saguenay River. They named the river for the legendary Kingdom of Saguenay, which is the namesake of Saguenay Herald of the Canadian Heraldic Authority.
In the 19th century, the river was begun to be used for transport and power by the logging and pulp and paper industries.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Saguenay River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Saguenay: Key Facts
| Length | 160 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 1,470 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 90,000 km² |
| Source | confluence |
| Mouth | St. Lawrence River |
| Drainage system | bassin du Saguenay |
| Tributaries | Rivière Shipshaw, Rivière Valin, Rivière aux Sables, Rivière Chicoutimi, Rivière du Moulin, La Grande Décharge, La Petite Décharge, Rivière Ha! Ha! |
Facts from Wikidata Q392161 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Saguenay: Quick Answers
- Where is Saguenay?
- Saguenay is located in Canada, at 48.8593° N, 72.6830° W.
- Are there dams on the Saguenay?
- No dam on the Saguenay is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.