The Kenogami River 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 the
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 ...
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
in
Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...
and
Cochrane districts in
Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...
, Canada,
which flows north from
Long Lake near
Longlac
Greenstone is an amalgamated town in the Canadian province of Ontario with a population of 4,636 according to the 2016 Canadian Census. It stretches along Highway 11 from Lake Nipigon to Longlac and covers .
The town was formed in 2001, as pa ...
to empty into the
Albany River
Albany, derived from the Gaelic for Scotland, most commonly refers to:
*Albany, New York, the capital of the State of New York and largest city of this name
*Albany, Western Australia, port city in the Great Southern
Albany may also refer to: ...
.
[ Shows the river course.] The river is in length and its name means "long water" in the
Cree language
Cree (also known as Cree– Montagnais–Naskapi) is a dialect continuum of Algonquian languages spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories to Alberta to Labrador. If considered one language, it is th ...
. A portion of the river's headwaters have been diverted into the
Lake Superior
Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...
drainage basin.
Course
![ISS020-E-51384 - View of the Province of Ontario](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/ISS020-E-51384_-_View_of_the_Province_of_Ontario.jpg)
The river begins at Longlac Bay on Long Lake at the community of Longlac, part of the municipality of
Greenstone, Thunder Bay District.
It passes under
Ontario Highway 11 and the
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN i ...
(CNR)
transcontinental
Transcontinental may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* "Transcontinental", a song by the band Pedro the Lion from the album ''Achilles Heel''
* TC Transcontinental, a publishing, media and marketing company based in Canada, a subsidiary o ...
main line
Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to:
Transportation
Railway
* Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system
* Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...
(used at this point by
Via Rail
Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...
transcontinental ''
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
'' trains) into
geographic
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
Bain Township in
Unorganized Thunder Bay District
Unorganized Thunder Bay District is an unorganized area in northwestern Ontario, Canada in Thunder Bay District. It comprises all parts of the district that are not part of an incorporated municipality or a First Nations reserve.
Most of the ter ...
, takes in the left
tributaries
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage b ...
Kenogamisis River and Burrows River, and reaches the Kenogami Lake Dam.
It continues northeast, takes in the left tributary Kawakanika River, reaches Chipman Lake, passes into Cochrane District at geographic Chipman Township, takes in the right tributaries Fernow River and Wabigano River, heads under a CNR line abandoned in 1986 (originally the
National Transcontinental Railway
The National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) was a historic railway between Winnipeg and Moncton in Canada. Much of the line is now operated by the Canadian National Railway.
The Grand Trunk partnership
The completion of construction of Canada's ...
main line) between the railway points
Ogahalla to the west and
Blanche to the east, and reaches the confluence with the left tributary Atikasibi River.
The river continues northeast, takes in the Mundino River (left),
Flint River
The Flint River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 15, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Georgia. The river drains of western Georgia, flowing south from the u ...
(right), Watistiguam River (left) and Nemasa River (left), the last at Loon Island, the right tributary Pagwachuan River, and then, within two kilometres, the right tributaries Nagagami River and
Kabinakagami River, the latter at the
unincorporated place
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
and community of
Mammamattawa, site of the abandoned
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
English River Post trading post.
It turns north, passes the English River 66 First Nations Reserve (part of the
Constance Lake First Nation
Constance Lake First Nation ( ojs, ᑾᐣᐢᑕᐣᐢ ᓴᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ) is an Oji-Cree First Nations band government located on the shores of Constance Lake near Hearst, Cochrane District in northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is directly north of ...
lands),
takes in the left tributaries Little Ash River,
Ash River and Kingfisher River, the right tributary Wakashi River, the left tributaries Little Drowning River, Drowning River and Little Current River, and reaches its mouth at The Albany Forks on the Albany River, which flows to James Bay.
Tributaries
*Little Current River (left)
*Drowning River (left)
*Little Drowning River (left)
*Wakashi River (right)
*Kingfisher River (left)
*Ash River (left)
*Little Ash River (left)
*Kabinakagami River (right)
*Nagagami River (right)
*Pagwachuan River (right)
*Nemasa River (left)
*Watistiguam River (left)
*Flint River (right)
*Mundino River (left)
*Atikasibi River (left)
*North Barlow Creek (right)
*Wabigano River (right)
*Fernow River (right)
*Chipman Lake
**Jobrin Creek (left)
**Pardee Creek (right)
*Kawakanika River (left)
*Burrows River (left)
*Kenogamisis River (left)
*Blueberry Creek (right)
*Isis Creek (left)
History
The first inland post of the Hudson's Bay Company, named
Henley House
Henley House was the first inland post established by the Hudson's Bay Company, and is located in what is today Kenora District, Ontario, Canada. It was strategically situated west of James Bay about up the east-flowing Albany River at the mouth o ...
, was established at the confluence of the Kenogami River and Albany River in 1743.
A new post was established in 1884 at
Mammamattawa, Ontario at the confluence of the Kenogami River and the Kabinakagami River. It was known as the English River Post, as the Kenogami was also known as the English River.
Long Lake diversion project
In 1937-38, the
Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario
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 ...
, now
Ontario Power Generation
Ontario Power Generation Inc. (OPG) is a Crown corporation and "government business enterprise" that is responsible for approximately half of the electricity generation in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is wholly owned by the governmen ...
, built the Kenogami Lake Dam () and Long Lake Diversion Dam to divert this river's
headwaters
The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source.
Definition
The ...
to empty through Long Lake and the
Aguasabon River
The Aguasabon River is a river in Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. The river originates at Chorus Lake and empties into Lake Superior near the community of Terrace Bay. When the Canadian Pacific Railway was being built 1882-1885, the river ...
into Lake Superior. The former backed up the headwaters, while the latter controlled the outflow into the Aguasabon River. The diversion has shifted an average flow of per second from a drainage basin of almost from James Bay to the
Great Lakes Basin
The Great Lakes Basin consists of the Great Lakes and the surrounding lands of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in the United States, and the province of Ontario in Canada, whose dir ...
. Initially, the diversion supported forestry development and hydroelectric development further downstream on the Great Lakes at
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...
; no hydroelectric development on the watercourses on the diversion project was practical initially. A further stage was completed in 1948 when the Hayes Lake Dam (for water control) and Aguasabon Generating Station (for hydroelectricity), the former just upstream of the latter and the latter just upstream of the mouth of the Aguasabon River at Lake Superior, to support a pulp and paper mill at the adjacent town of
Terrace Bay
Terrace Bay is a township in Thunder Bay District in northern Ontario, Canada, located on the north shore of Lake Superior east of Thunder Bay along Highway 17. The name originates from a series of lake terraces formed as the water level in L ...
.
See also
*
List of rivers of Ontario
This is the list of rivers which are in and flow through Ontario. The watershed list includes tributaries as well.
Dee River, flows between Three Mile Lake and Lake Rosseau.
List of rivers arranged by watershed Hudson Bay
Atlantic Ocean
...
References
Sources
*
*
External links
{{Commons category-inline
Rivers of Thunder Bay District
Rivers of Cochrane District