The rivers and water bodies of Montreal are few and mostly artificial. Hydrography of the island of Montreal remained intact until approximately XIXth where Montreal will undergo major urban works including the construction of Lachine Canal and the creation of the first major parks of Montreal.
History edit
Last Ice Age edit
After the Ice Age, around 13,000 years ago, Montreal and the Saint Lawrence Lowlands were flooded by the Champlain sea. Within a few centuries, as and when these waters recede, the Mount Royal and its three summits are emerged into islands. With the complete withdrawal of the sea, water is retained in some depression of the island. This is the case among other Beaver Lake, located in the palm of Mount Royal. This will dry gradually to become a fen.[1] It was regrooved artificially in 1938.
Before XIXth edit
There used to be a complex hydrographic, now destroyed or channeled.[2][3]
- Otter Lake (or small lake St. Peter): long by about 4 kilometers and one kilometer wide, marshy lake that was halfway between the Old Montreal and Lachine, south of Quartier Latin, the Saint-Jacques escarpment, and west of the Turcot Interchange. It was backfilled and gradually dried up, particularly with the construction of the Lachine Canal and with the industrialization of the sector. The highway 20 runs through the length and breadth of today in the center.[4]
- Saint Pierre River: started in Côte-des-Neiges down to Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and widening formed Lake Otter. It then returns to the river and leads to St. Lawrence River in Nuns' Island.
- Little St. Pierre River: created artificially in 1697 under the name of "St. Gabriel canal". This channel connects the Saint-Pierre River (in the east part of Lake Otter) up the Pointe-à-Callière Museum. One part was channeled as qu'égout (William collector) in 1832. The Pointe-à-Callière Museum would make the public place around 2017.[5]
- Saint Martin River or Little River: It begins at Mount Royal Cemetery through Outremont, Quebec and the Mile End and Plateau Mont-Royal until La Fontaine Park (including the pond is a remnant). Then it branched off westward through the Quartier Latin and ran along the Montreal fortifications to the river. There are still some traces of the river.[6]
Today edit
Today there are only a handful of streams and lakes in nature. However, many parks have ponds or artificial lakes of large size.
List of water bodies edit
Below is a partial list of current waters bodies of the island:
List of rivers edit
References edit
- ^ Article of "journal Le Devoir" - Beaver Lake (Lac aux Castors) on Mount Royal
- ^ "Radio-Canada". Archived from the original on 2014-04-29. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
- ^ sites.google.com Carte des sites de l'héritage autochtone
- ^ "Radio-Canada, emission "Rivières perdues"". Archived from the original on 2017-04-25. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
- ^ a-propos de Pointe-à-Callière museum/museum/future-expansion-museum-projects Article "À propos du musée de Pointe-à-Callière"
- ^ Article "Des rivières perdues - un ruisseau méconnu"