West River Sheet Harbour (locally known as West River) is a river on the Eastern Shore of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, in the

Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

. Its headwaters are near the

Musquodoboit Valley The Musquodoboit Valley ( ) is a valley and region in the Halifax Regional Municipality of Nova Scotia, Canada. It is administratively located in the municipality's Musquodoboit Valley & Dutch Settlement planning area and the western edge of the ...

and the river flows southeast and empties in to the Northwest Arm of

Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia Sheet Harbour is a rural area, rural community in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located in the eastern reaches of the Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Municipality, approximately northeast of the central urban area of the municipality, con ...

. The river has three main tributaries: West River Main, Killag River and Little River. The river was suffering from acidification, so a lime doser was installed and has been in use since September 2005. It stabilized the river's pH at 5.5, a healthy level for aquatic life.

Geography

The West River system, along with the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...

watershed system, comprise a total area of 988 km². The West River system has three main tributaries: West River, Killag River and Little River. West River is the main tributary of the West River system. It is approximately long and its headwaters are northwest of

Beaver Dam A beaver dam or beaver impoundment is a dam built by beavers to create a pond which protects against predators such as coyotes, wolves and bears, and holds their food during winter. These structures modify the natural environment in such a way t ...

. The river is prone to flash-flooding. There are two lake-like pools on the river. The first and more southerly one is Sheet Harbour Lake, which has an area of 1.2 km² and is located near the West River Falls in Sheet Harbour. The other lake is Little Lake, which is more inland in the system and has an area of 0.5 km². Killag River and Little River both discharge in to the Main West River. Killag River begins at West Lake and Little River flows from Lake Alma. West River then flows through Sheet Harbour Lake, then down the West River Falls and discharges in to the Northwest Arm of Sheet Harbour. Killag River is a secondary tributary of the West River system. It is approximately long. Its headwaters are at an altitude of . Most of the salmon in the river system breed on the Killag River. Killag River discharges in to West River. Little River is the other secondary tributary of the river system. Its headwaters are in Lake Alma, a shallow lake at an altitude of . Little River is approximately long. Little River discharges in to West River.

History

In 1922, a ground-wood pulp mill, owned by the American Pulp and Wrapping Paper Co. of Albany, began operation on the West River Falls. They had purchased it from Rhodes and Currie, the previous owners who were a lumber company. It produced its first ground-wood pulp on October 5, 1925. It remained in operation until it was destroyed by

Hurricane Beth Hurricane Beth was a short-lived tropical cyclone which traveled from Florida to Nova Scotia in the middle of August 1971. The second named storm of the 1971 Atlantic hurricane season, Beth's genesis was impeded by a cold environment surrounding ...

in August 1971. West River has been dosed with a lime doser since September 2005. Sheet Harbour was the first community in North America to equip a lime doser on one of its rivers. It was the result of the worsening

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

population in

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

rivers, which is being caused be

acid rain Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but acid ...

and low pH levels. It was successful in stabilizing the pH of the river at 5.5, which is a healthy level for salmon and other water life.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Assessment of the 2009 West River, Sheet Harbour Atlantic salmon smolt migrationSheet Harbour Chamber of Commerce Website
{{authority control Landforms of Halifax, Nova Scotia Rivers of Nova Scotia