North Saskatchewan River
The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows into the Hudson Bay via Lake Winnipeg and the Nelson River.
The Saskatchewan River system is the largest shared between the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Its watershed includes most of southern and central Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Course
The North Saskatchewan River has a length of, and a drainage area of. At its end point at Saskatchewan River Forks it has a mean discharge of. The yearly discharge at the Alberta–Saskatchewan border is more than.The river begins above at the toe of the Saskatchewan Glacier in the Columbia Icefield, and flows southeast through Banff National Park alongside the Icefields Parkway. At the junction of the David Thompson Highway, it initially turns northeast for before switching to a more direct eastern flow for about. At this point, it turns north where it eventually arrives at Abraham Lake. Bighorn Dam constricts the north end of Abraham Lake, where the North Saskatchewan emerges to track eastward to Rocky Mountain House. At Rocky Mountain House, the river abruptly turns north again for where it switches east towards Edmonton, Alberta.
In Edmonton, the river passes through the centre of the city in a northeasterly direction and out towards Smoky Lake at which point it quickly changes to the southeast and then more to the east as it makes its way to the Alberta–Saskatchewan boundary.
From the border, the river flows southeast between North Battleford and Battleford and on in the direction of Saskatoon. About northwest of Saskatoon, near Langham, the river veers to the northeast where it passes through the City of Prince Albert. About downstream of Prince Albert, the North Saskatchewan River joins the South Saskatchewan River at Saskatchewan River Forks to become the Saskatchewan River. From there, the river flows east to Tobin Lake and into Manitoba, eventually emptying into Lake Winnipeg.
Geography
The river course can be divided into five distinct sections. The first, the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, is the smallest area geographically, although the largest in terms of run-off and contributed water flow. The glaciers and perpetual snows of the mountain peaks feed the river year-round. Mountains, with little vegetation, experience fast-melting snow cover. The second section of the river comprises the foothills region. The terrain is hilly and rough, with a deeper and more defined valley. This area is well covered with forest and muskeg, and run-off into the river is much more constant and stable than in the mountains.From Edmonton to the mouth of the Vermilion River, the North Saskatchewan flows through the plains-parkland divide, with occasional stretches of prairie. The North Saskatchewan River valley parks system is the largest expanses of urban parkland in Canada. Cutting across Edmonton and the Capital Region. The river runs in a well-defined valley with deep cuts in the landscape. The fourth section, from the Vermilion River to Prince Albert is principally prairie with a few small stretches of timber and secondary forest cover. The valley of the river is much wider, and the river itself spreads out across shallow water and flows over many shifting sand bars. Low-lying, flat areas border the river for much of this section.
The final section of the river, from Prince Albert to the Saskatchewan River Forks, has many rapids. The valley is more shallow than the previous sections of the river, and the channel is much better defined. There is little prairie and much tree cover in this section.
The water flows into the Saskatchewan River.
Geology
The Bridge River Ash is in the vicinity of the North Saskatchewan River, which erupted from the Mount Meager massif in southwestern British Columbia about 2350 years ago.History
The river is shown on a Hudson's Bay Company map from 1760, labelled as the Beaver River.Its Cree name is kisiskâciwanisîpiy, meaning 'swift current'. From this name is derived the name Saskatchewan, used as well for the South Saskatchewan River and the Saskatchewan River, and the province of that name.
Its Blackfoot name is omaka-ty 'big river'.
Image:North Saskatchewan River circa 1913.jpg|left|thumb|The North Saskatchewan in Edmonton circa 1913. Steamboats in the foreground, construction of the High Level Bridge in the background, and mid-river piers for future Walterdale Bridge between.
The 49-kilometre section of the North Saskatchewan River that falls within the boundaries of Banff National Park was designated a Canadian Heritage River in 1989, due to its importance in the development of Western Canada. In 2022, the remaining 718 km within Alberta, flowing through 16 municipalities in the province, was nominated to the Canadian Heritage Rivers System, achieving final designation in March of 2024.
The river demarcates the prairie–parkland divide for much of its course and acted as a natural boundary between plains Blackfoot of the south and woodland Cree of the north for thousands of years. Archaeologists have found evidence and indications of nearly 800 permanent or temporary occupation and quarry sites in the Edmonton region alone, dating back hundreds and sometimes thousands of years. With the westward expansion of the fur trade spearheaded by the North West Company and followed by the HBC, the river became an important transportation route for fur trade brigades' York boats, to which it was especially well suited as it follows an eastern trend toward Hudson Bay, the entry point for the HBC into the continent. Many fur trade posts were constructed on the river, including Fort Edmonton and Rocky Mountain House, the uppermost post reached by canoe navigation. The river's importance continued after the amalgamation of the HBC and the NWC. The [|river was plied by a number of steamboats] up to the First World War, although for everyday freight the growing web of railway lines in the western prairies eventually replaced them. The river was used commercially for many years to carry flatboats of settlers goods and construction materials downstream from Edmonton, to float thousands of logs in the annual log drive downstream to Edmonton prior to the First World War, as a source of ice blocks for home owners' iceboxes.
The first bridge across the river opened in 1900, the Low Level Bridge. The Canadian Northern Railway Bridge , which also at first carried foot and wheeled traffic, and the Battleford Bridge followed. Recent rehabilitation of the Battleford Truss Bridge restored this heritage structure in terms of safety and structural integrity, while improving access to Finlayson Island by both vehicles and pedestrians.
Recreation
Edmonton's North Saskatchewan River valley parks system is the largest system of urban parks in Canada, and covers both sides of the river valley's course through Edmonton. The River Valley Alliance, a non-profit organization composed of seven municipalities which border the North Saskatchewan River, is currently working to create a continuous trail network from the town of Devon to the city of Fort Saskatchewan – a total of.Fish species
Fish species include: walleye, sauger, yellow perch, northern pike, goldeye, mooneye, lake sturgeon, mountain whitefish, burbot, longnose sucker, white sucker and shorthead redhorse. The upper North Saskatchewan River contains cutthroat trout, and bull troutFlooding
Like all rivers, the North Saskatchewan is subject to periodic flooding, beginning with rapid snowmelt in the mountains or prolonged periods of rain in the river basin. With the establishment of permanent communities along the river's course, and the rise of an administrative/government structure, records exist recording floods in the North Saskatchewan for the past century. The Bighorn Dam, constructed in the early 1970s near Nordegg, Alberta, and the Brazeau Dam, constructed in the mid-1960s, have not reduced flooding potential on the North Saskatchewan RiverImage:Edmonton daily bulletin 1915 flood cover.jpg|right|thumb|250px|29 June 1915 cover of the ''Edmonton Daily Bulletin''
List of notable flood years
Flood of 1899
The river peaked at a stage of with an estimated peak instantaneous discharge of.Flood of 1915
The 1915 flood of the North Saskatchewan River was one of the most dramatic in the history of Edmonton. On 28 June, the Edmonton Bulletin reported the river had risen "10 feet in as many hours" and ultimately hitting a height of 42 feet over the low water level. A frantic phone call from Rocky Mountain House alerted local authorities to the flood's arrival. The Canadian Northern Railway had parked a number of train cars on the city's Low Level Bridge to protect against the "tons upon tons of debris" that had been pushed up against its piers, including a house swept away by the current. Thousands of Edmonton residents watched the flood destroy lumber mills, other industries and dozens of houses along the city's river valley.The river peaked at a stage of, a rise of above low flow, with an estimated peak instantaneous discharge of. However, based on high water marks and 1D modelling, the actual value may have been closer to.