Assiniboine River

Assiniboine River
Red River drainage basin, with the Assiniboine River highlighted
Origin	Saskatchewan 52°18′57″N 103°09′24″W / 52.31582°N 103.15676°W / 52.31582; -103.15676 (Assiniboine origin)
Mouth	Red River of the North 49°53′09″N 97°07′42″W / 49.88580°N 97.12828°W / 49.88580; -97.12828 (Assiniboine mouth)
Basin countries	Canada
Length	1,070 kilometers (665 mi)
Source elevation	640 m (2,100 ft)
Mouth elevation	230 m (755 ft)
Avg. discharge	45 m³/s[1]
Basin area	182,000 km2 (70,270.6 sq mi)[1]

The Assiniboine River is a 1,070 kilometers (665 mi) long river that runs through the prairies of Western Canada in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

It is a typical meandering river with a single main channel embanked within a flat, shallow valley at some places, and a steep valley at other places.

The river takes its name from the Assiniboine First Nation. Douglas (1933) of the GBC made several comments as to its origine. "The name commemorates the Assiniboine natives called by La Verendrye in 1730 "Assiniboils" and by Governor Knight in 1715 of the Hudson's Bay Company "stone Indians." Assiniboine is the name of an Indian tribe and is derived from "assine" a stone and "bwan" native name of the Sioux, hence Stony Sioux name was possibly given because they used heated stones in cooking their food."^[2]

Course

The Assiniboine River flooding the Forks Marina in Winnipeg

It rises near the community of Preeceville in eastern Saskatchewan and then southeastward to "The Forks" in Winnipeg, Manitoba where it flows into the Red River. Some of flood flows can be diverted into Lake Manitoba at Portage la Prairie. In 1967, the Shellmouth Dam was built in Shellmouth to help reduce flood peaks and to supplement flows during dry periods. The Portage Diversion was completed in 1970. There are three hydrometric stations placed on the river that have been taking measurements since 1913. Today, Assiniboine Herald at the Canadian Heraldic Authority is named after the river.

Tributaries include the Souris River which joins it near Wawanesa, the Birdtail River which joins at the Birdtail Sioux First Nation, the Little Saskatchewan which joins west of Brandon and the Qu'Appelle River which joins near the site of historic Fort Ellice.

Flow rates

Junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers in Downtown Winnipeg

The Assiniboine river has an average discharge of 45m³/s^[1]

The following discharge rates were recorded during the 1995 flood:^[3]

See also

• List of Manitoba rivers
• List of Saskatchewan rivers

References