The Broadback River (french: Rivière Broadback) (In Cree: ''Chistamiskau Sipi'') is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

in northern

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 ...

, Canada. It drains into

Rupert Bay Rupert Bay is a large bay located on the south-east shore of James Bay, in Canada. Although the coast is part of the province of Quebec, the waters of the bay are under jurisdiction of Nunavut Territory. Geography This bay has a width of 16 ...

(a smaller bay at the south end of

James Bay James Bay (french: Baie James; cr, ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, Wînipekw, dirty water) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean, of which James Bay is the southernmost par ...

), just south of the

Rupert River The Rupert River is one of the largest rivers in Quebec, Canada. From its headwaters in Lake Mistassini, the largest natural lake in Quebec, it flows west into Rupert Bay on James Bay. The Rupert drains an area of . There is some extremely la ...

and

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

Waskaganish Waskaganish ( cr, ᐙᔅᑳᐦᐄᑲᓂᔥ/Wâskâhîkaniš, Little House; ) is a Cree community of over 2,500 people at the mouth of the Rupert River on the south-east shore of James Bay in Northern Quebec, Canada. Waskaganish is part of the ...

. The major

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

on the river's course is Lake Evans. The river is a popular canoe-tripping destination.

Geography

The hydrographic basins adjacent to the Broadback River are: *north side:

, Nemiscau Lake, Nemiscau River; *east side: Frotet Lake, Troilus Lake, La Marte River; *south side:

Nottaway River The Nottaway River is a river in Quebec, Canada. The river drains Lake Matagami and travels north-west before emptying into Rupert Bay at the south end of James Bay. Its drainage basin is and has a mean discharge of 1190 m³/s (1556 yd³/s). It ...

; *west side:

. The Broadback River originates at Frotet Lake, located west of grand

Mistassini Lake Lake Mistassini () is the largest natural lake by surface area in the province of Quebec, Canada, with a total surface area of approximately and a net area (water surface area only) of . It is located in the Jamésie region of the province, appro ...

. From the mouth of Frotet Lake (located north of the lake), this river winds the

Jamésie Jamésie is a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) of Nord-du-Québec, Canada. Its geographical code is 991 and together with Kativik TE and Eeyou Istchee TE it forms the administrative région and census division (CD ...

on 451 kilometers to finally reach the

close to the mouth of the

. In its course, the river crosses several lakes, including: Troilus Lake, Quenonisca Lake, Evans Lake (the largest) and Giffard Lake. It flows between the

rivers to the north and the

to the south. At the end of the route, the river crosses marsh areas for to the west.

History

The Broadback, together with the

Nottaway The Nottoway are an Iroquoian Native American tribe in Virginia. The Nottoway spoke a Nottoway language in the Iroquoian language family. Names The term ''Nottoway'' may derive from ''Nadawa'' or ''Nadowessioux'' (widely translated as "poiso ...

and Rupert Rivers, was initially considered to be dammed and diverted as part of the

James Bay Project The James Bay Project (french: projet de la Baie-James) refers to the construction of a series of hydroelectric power stations on the La Grande River in northwestern Quebec, Canada by state-owned utility Hydro-Québec, and the diversion of neigh ...

. However, in 1972

hydro-electric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

development began on the more northerly La Grande and

Eastmain River The Eastmain River, formerly written East Main, is a river in west central Quebec. It rises in central Quebec and flows west to James Bay, draining an area of . The First Nations Cree village of Eastmain is located beside the mouth. Name Eastm ...

s, and the NBR Project was shelved. With the decision to divert the Rupert River to the La Grande, it is not likely that the Broadback will be developed in the foreseeable future.

Tributaries

Since the Broadback River flows relatively close to the northern edge of its basin, most of its major tributaries are left tributaries. Major tributaries in downstream order include: Tributaries above Lake Evans: * Châtillon River *

Assinica River The Assinica River is a tributary of the Broadback River flowing west to Rupert Bay south of James Bay. The Assinica River flows into the municipality of Eeyou Istchee Baie-James (municipality) in the Nord-du-Québec administrative region, in ...

* Coigne River (right tributary) *

Nipukatasi River The Nipukatasi River is a tributary of the Broadback River flowing west to Rupert Bay, south of James Bay. The Nipukatasi River flows in the municipality of Eeyou Istchee Baie-James (municipality), in the administrative region of Nord-du-Québec ...

* Salamandre River Tributaries below Lake Evans: * Ouasouagami River * Colomb River * Kaminahikuschit River * Natouacamisie River * Machisipi River * Lepallier River Broadback River

References

External links

{{Authority control Rivers of Nord-du-Québec Tributaries of James Bay Eeyou Istchee James Bay

Geography

History

Tributaries

See also

References

External links