The Portage-des-Roches dam (''Portage-des-Roches being the translation of the Montagnais'' ''Ashini Kushnapagan'') or '' Taschereau Dam'' (in honor of ''

Louis-Alexandre Taschereau Louis-Alexandre Taschereau (; March 5, 1867 – July 6, 1952) was the 14th premier of Quebec from 1920 to 1936. He was a member of the Parti libéral du Québec. Early life Taschereau was born in Quebec City, Quebec, the son of Jean-Thoma ...

'') is a dam located in the Laterrière sector of borough

Chicoutimi Chicoutimi () is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and com ...

, at

Saguenay, Quebec Saguenay ( , , ) is a city in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada, on the Saguenay River, about north of Quebec City by overland route. It is about upriver and northwest of Tadoussac, located at the confluence with the St. ...

, Canada. The largest water retaining structure in

Kenogami Lake Kenogami lake is a long lake in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of south-central Quebec, Canada. Situated at an altitude of , the lake is long and deep. "Kénogami" means "long lake" in the Montagnais dialect and was originally used to ref ...

, this dam constitutes the source of the

Chicoutimi River The Chicoutimi River is a watercourse of eastern Quebec, Canada. A tributary of the Saguenay River, which it meets in the city of Saguenay, it is the main outlet of Kenogami Lake, which rises from a watershed of in the Laurentides Wildlife Reser ...

, whose flow is totally dependent on it. RivChicoutimi Portage-des-roches 3

Geography

Portage-des-Roches is located at confluence between

and the eastern end of Kénogami Reservoir. This natural corridor carved out by glaciation is a depression located between the elevation of Lac Jean-Deschênes that of the southern valley of the

Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean (, ) is a region in Quebec, Canada. It contains the Saguenay Fjord, the estuary of the Saguenay River, stretching through much of the region. It is also known as Sagamie in French, from the first part of "Saguenay" and th ...

Laurentides Wildlife Reserve Réserve faunique des Laurentides (), also known by its former name of parc des Laurentides, is a wildlife reserve in Quebec, Canada, located between Quebec City and the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region. This reserve is part of the network of ...

History

Native American occupation

European exploration

As part of the main portage suite which links the Saguenay to Lac Saint-Jean, by

and

, Portage-des-Roches was borrowed by Father Jean Dequen in 1652. In 1732, it was the surveyor Joseph-Laurent Normandin, who translated the Montagnais term ''Ashini Kushnapagan'' into ''Portage-des-Roches''.

Colonization

Construction of the dam

Saguenay flood

In 2010, the

Government of Quebec A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

issued a call for tenders to improve the evacuation capacity of the

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...

, raise the crest of the dam and replace wooden valves with steel valves with an independent system that can be controlled remotely. The various works take account of the technical recommendations contained in the report of the Nicolet Commission. The total cost of the rehabilitation project is estimated at $50 million. The work must be completed in 2013.

Notes and references

Bibliography

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External links

Hydrological forecasts
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' by François Lafortune {{coord, 48.31030, N, 71.21149, W, display=title Dams in Quebec Buildings and structures in Saguenay, Quebec