La Grande River (french: La Grande Rivière; cr, Chisasibi, script=latn; both meaning "great river") is a river in northwestern

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, which rises in the highlands of north central Quebec and flows roughly west to drain into

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 pa ...

. It is the second largest river in Quebec, surpassed only by the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

. Originally, the La Grande River drained an area of and had a mean discharge of . Since the 1980s when

hydroelectric 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 and ...

development diverted the

Eastmain Eastmain ( ; cr, ᐄᔅᒣᐃᓐ/Îsmein) is a Cree community located on east coast of James Bay at the mouth of the Eastmain River, Quebec, Canada. It is a small coastal Cree village with a population of 924 people in the 2021 Canadian Censu ...

and

Caniapiscau Caniapiscau () is a vast unorganized territory in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada, part of Caniapiscau Regional County Municipality. The territory is home to the huge Caniapiscau Reservoir, the largest body of water in Quebec. The res ...

rivers into the La Grande, its total catchment area has increased to about , and its mean discharge increased to more than . In November 2009, 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 ...

was also partially diverted, adding another to the basin. At one time, this river was known as the "Fort George River". The

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 ...

operated a

trading Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

post on the river at Big River House from 1803 to 1824. In 1837, a large trading post was established at Fort George on an island at the mouth of the river. In the early 20th century, this trading post became a village as the

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 ...

s of the James Bay region abandoned their nomadic way of life and settled nearby. The modern Cree village of Chisasibi, which replaced Fort George in 1980, is situated on the southern shore of the La Grande River, several kilometers to the East.

Tributaries

Significant tributaries of La Grande River include: *Kanaaupscow River *

Sakami River Sakami is a small town in northern Quebec, Canada. It was founded for the Centrale La-Grande-3 hydroelectric project, and is accessible by the unpaved Trans-Taiga Road The Trans-Taiga Road (french: Route Transtaïga) is an extremely remote wil ...

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 East ...

(diverted) ***Opinaca River ***

(diverted) *Rivière de Pontois **Rivière de la Corvette * Laforge River **

Caniapiscau River The Caniapiscau River (french: rivière Caniapiscau) is a tributary of the Koksoak River in Nunavik, Quebec, Canada. In Cree the name of the river means ''rocky point''. Starting from Lac Sevestre ( south-west from Fermont) on the Canadian S ...

(diverted)

Hydro-electric development

The river has been extensively developed as a source of

power by Hydro-Québec, starting in 1974. An area of was flooded and almost all of the flow of the Eastmain River and a large portion of the Rupert River were diverted into the La Grande watershed. The following generating stations are on the La Grande River and its tributaries in upstream order: * La-Grande-1 (LG-1) * Robert-Bourassa * La Grande-2A (LG-2A) * La Grande-3 (LG-3) * La Grande-4 (LG-4) * Laforge-1 (LF-1) * Laforge-2 (LF-2) * Brisay * Eastmain-1 As a result of the development projects, the

people of the region lost some parts of their traditional hunting and trapping territories (about 10% of the hunting and trapping territories used by the Cree of Chisasibi). Organic mercury levels increased in the fish, which forms an important part of their diet, as the organic material trapped by the rising waters in the new reservoirs began to filter into the food chain. Careful follow-up by Cree health authorities since the 1980s has been largely successful. The authorities continue to promote the regular consumption of fish, with the notable exception of the predatory species living in the reservoirs, which still show high levels of mercury.

Climate

References

External links

Hydro-Québec's La Grande ComplexThe Grand River at LG-1 (YouTube Video)
{{Authority control Rivers of Nord-du-Québec James Bay Project Tributaries of James Bay

Tributaries

Hydro-electric development

Climate

See also

References

External links