Sainte-Anne River (Les Chenaux) Explained

Sainte-Anne River (Les Chenaux)
Name Other:Telahiar, Wendat (huron)
Subdivision Type1:Country
Subdivision Name1:Canada
Subdivision Type2:Province
Subdivision Name2:Quebec
Subdivision Type3:Region
Subdivision Name3:Capitale-Nationale, Mauricie
Subdivision Type4:Regional County Municipality
Subdivision Name4:La Jacques-Cartier Regional County Municipality, Portneuf Regional County Municipality, Les Chenaux Regional County Municipality
Subdivision Type5:Municipalities
Subdivision Name5:Lac-Croche, Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury, Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, Saint-Raymond, Saint-Léonard-de-Portneuf, Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne, Saint-Gilbert, Saint-Alban, Saint-Casimir, Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade
Length:123km (76miles)
Discharge1 Location:Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade
Source1:Lac Sainte-Anne
Source1 Location:Lac-Croche in Laurentides Wildlife Reserve
Source1 Coordinates:47.285°N -71.66°W
Source1 Elevation:662m (2,172feet)
Mouth:Estuary of Saint Lawrence
Mouth Location:Saint-Anne-de-la-Pérade
Mouth Coordinates:46.5536°N -72.2061°W
Mouth Elevation:4m (13feet)
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.
Tributaries 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.
Country:Canada

The Sainte-Anne River, a north shore tributary of Saint Lawrence River, the mouth river is located at Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade. This river flows in the province of Quebec, Canada.

Administrative regions
Capitale-Nationale

Mauricie

It is well known for ice fishing, with the primary catch being Tomcod, (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.

Apart from the village areas, forestry, recreational tourism and agriculture are the main economic activities on this hydrographic side.

The surface of the Sainte-Anne river (except the rapids areas) is generally frozen from the beginning of December to the end of March; however, safe circulation on the ice is generally done from the end of December to the beginning of March. The water level of the river varies with the seasons and the precipitation; the spring flood occurs in March or April.

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 .[1]

The toponym Rivière Sainte-Anne was formalized on December 5, 1968, at the Commission de toponymie du Québec.[1]

Drainage

Sainte-Anne river area [2] - Portneuf county

The major part of the area is drained by the Sainte-Anne river, which flows southwesterly to enter the Saint-Lawrence at Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade. The Noire and Niagarette rivers and Charest brook join the Sainte-Anne as tributaries from the west, but no streams enter the main river on its eastern side. This portion of the map-area drains directly into the Saint-Lawrence by La Chevrotière river, Moulin creek, and other smaller streams.
With the exception of the Sainte-Anne river, all these streams flow between banks of unconsolidated deposits, and only rarely have their channels reached bedrock.

Geography

Course

Sainte-Anne begins its course at above sea level in the Laurentides, in Laurentides Wildlife Reserve, i.e. at the mouth of Lac Sainte-Anne in the unorganized territory of Lac-Croche and the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve. The Lac Sainte-Anne is long and wide.[3]

From the road bridge (forest road R00300) spanning the Sainte-Anne river, at the mouth of the lac Sainte-Anne, the course of the Sainte-Anne river descends on with a drop of, according to the following segments:

Upper course of the Sainte-Anne river (segment of)

Intermediate course of the Sainte-Anne river, downstream of the Chézine river (segment of)

Intermediate course of the Sainte-Anne river, downstream from the Bras du Nord (segment of)

Intermediate course of the Sainte-Anne river, downstream of the Jacquot river (segment of)

Lower course of the Sainte-Anne river, upstream of Saint-Casimir (segment of)

The river flows mainly in a south-westerly direction over a length of to Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, and finally empties into the St. Lawrence river at sea level.

The confluence of the Sainte-Anne river with the St. Lawrence river is located downstream of the confluence of the Batiscan River.[3]

Hydrology

The watershed has an area of . Its average flow at its mouth is 78 m3/s. 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, Noire River, Blanche River, Niagarette River and Charest River. It also includes of watercourse. The basin includes 828 lakes, the most important of which are Lakes Montauban, Long, Blanche, Carillon and Clair.

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. The river enters the St. Lawrence Lowlands downstream from Saint-Alban and the source rock consists mainly of limestone and shale from the Paleozoic.

The whole is covered with marine and continental deposits from the Quaternary, the thickness of which is approximately in the St. Lawrence Lowlands and less than in the Laurentians.

Population

It is estimated that there were approximately 16000 people who lived in the Sainte-Anne basin in 2001. The town of Saint-Raymond alone has half the population of the 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

The north of the basin is included in the ZECs ('controlled harvesting zone') 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.

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 coniferous and 16% of broadleaved. 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.

The river and its tributaries is frequented by 33 species of fish.[5] 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).

The river is also recognized as an important spawning ground for the Atlantic tomcod (Microgadus tomcod). There are between 600 and

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Rivière Sainte-Anne. Commission de toponymie . February 28, 2011.
  2. Web site: Abbé J. W. Laverdière . Sainte-Anne River Area . Province of Quebec, Canada - Department of Mines and Fisheries . 28 September 2023 . 33 . 1936.
  3. https://atlas.gc.ca/toporama/fr/index.html - Atlas of Canada - Department of Natural Resources Canada - Accessed January 23, 2020.
  4. https://atlas.gc.ca/toporama/en/index.html Atlas of Canada - Department of Natural Resources Canada - Sainte-Anne River
  5. Web site: Fish diversity: Sainte-Anne river catchment area. Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks. February 28, 2011.