The Chambly Basin (french: link=no, bassin de Chambly) is a shallow, oblong

body of water A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as p ...

formed by an enlargement of the

Richelieu River The Richelieu River () is a river of Quebec, Canada, and a major right-bank tributary of the St. Lawrence River. It rises at Lake Champlain, from which it flows northward through Quebec and empties into the St. Lawrence. It was formerly kno ...

, extending out from the foot of the

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...

on the river between Chambly and Richelieu, in the

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

region of

Montérégie Montérégie () is an administrative region in the southwest part of Quebec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Châteauguay, Longueuil, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Vaudreuil-Dorion. The ...

. The towns of Chambly, Richelieu,

Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu is a municipality in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. It is located within the Rouville Regional County Municipality in the Montérégie region on the Richelieu River. The population ...

and

Carignan Carignan (also known as Mazuelo, Bovale Grande, Cariñena, Carinyena, Samsó, Carignane, and Carignano) is a red grape variety of Spanish origin that is more commonly found in French wine but is widely planted throughout the western Mediterra ...

surround the basin. The Chambly Basin is an important area for recreational tourism activities including boating in the summer, the connected

Chambly Canal The Chambly Canal is a National Historic Site of Canada in the Province of Quebec, running along the Richelieu River past Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Carignan, and Chambly. Building commenced in 1831 and the canal opened in 1843. It served as a maj ...

and nearby

Fort Chambly Fort Chambly is a historic fort in La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality, Quebec. It is designated as a National Historic Site of Canada. Fort Chambly was formerly known as Fort St. Louis. It was part of a series of five fortificat ...

National Historic Sites. Its surface is generally frozen from mid-December to the end of March. The water level of the river varies with the seasons and the precipitation.

Geography

The shape of the basin is similar to the shape of a football. The current from the

arrives from the southeast by crossing the Chambly rapids for a length of approximately , i.e. downstream from the Yule bridge which spans this river in order to connect Chambly (west bank) and Richelieu (east bank). These rapids end at the height of an archipelago of small islands bordering the south-eastern shore of the basin. The Rivière des Hurons flows toward the middle of the eastern shore of the basin. The

pours its waters on the south shore of the basin, in the area of the Chambly Canal National Historic Site of Canada. The western part of the basin includes Île aux Lièvres,

Demers Island The Demers Island is a river island of the Richelieu River. It is located in the territory of the municipality of Carignan, in the La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Montérégie, in the south of ...

(residential area), Île au Foin and

Goyer Island L'Île Goyer is a river island of the Richelieu River. It belongs to the territory of the municipality of Carignan, in the La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Montérégie, in the south of provinc ...

(residential area). Channels separate these islands. These islands are part of the territory of the city of Carignan. The

Acadia River The Acadia River flows Northerly over 82 km through seven municipalities in the MRC La Vallée-du-Richelieu, Les Jardins-de-Napierville and Le Haut-Richelieu, in Montérégie, on the South Shore of St. Lawrence river, the Quebec, Canada. The ...

which runs on the west side of Chambly drains at the northeast point of

, that is downstream of the limit north of the Chambly basin.Atlas of Canada from the Department of Natural Resources Canada - Characteristics extracted from the geographic map, the database and site instrumentation - accessed May 18, 2020.
!--in other words, this is original research-->

History

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fre ...

, the European to explore this body water in

1609 Events January–June * January – The Basque witch trials begin. * January 15 – One of the world's first newspapers, ''Avisa Relation oder Zeitung'', begins publication in Wolfenbüttel (Holy Roman Empire). * January 3 ...

, wrote: "The entrance to the sault is a kind of lake, where the water goes down, which contains some three leagues round." In

Jesuit Relations ''The Jesuit Relations'', also known as ''Relations des Jésuites de la Nouvelle-France'', are chronicles of the Jesuit missions in New France. The works were written annually and printed beginning in 1632 and ending in 1673. Originally written ...

1665 Events January–March * January 5 – The ''Journal des sçavans'' begins publication of the first scientific journal in France. * February 15 – Molière's comedy '' Dom Juan ou le Festin de pierre'', based on the Spanis ...

, we read: "This basin is like a small lake, a league and a half of a turn, six to eight feet deep.Google Books: Jesuit Relations
/ref> "

Name

Chambly Basin was named after the surrounding

seignory In English law, seignory or seigniory, spelled ''signiory'' in Early Modern English (; french: seigneur, lit=lord; la, senior, lit=elder), is the lordship (authority) remaining to a grantor after the grant of an estate in fee simple. '' Nulle terr ...

of Chambly. It's referred to as a "basin" as it's a shallow lake in which alluvium is deposited.Commission de toponymie du Québec
/ref> The name french: link=no, Bassin de Chambly was formalized by the Quebec Commission of Geography in 1968.

Image gallery

Bassin de chambly.jpg, Rapides-Chambly.jpg ,

Geography

History

Name

Image gallery

Notes and references

See also