Winnipeg River

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The Winnipeg River is a Canadian river which flows from Lake of the Woods in the province of Ontario to Lake Winnipeg in the province of Manitoba and eventually empties into Hudson Bay via the Nelson River. This river is 813 km long (counting the Rainy River system, the major tributary of the Lake of the Woods) and drains an area of 150,000 km² (58,000 mi²), mainly in Canada. About 29,000 km² (11,000 mi²) of this is in northern Minnesota. The actual distance from the Norman Dam in Kenora to the mouth at Lake Winnipeg is 235 km. The river's name means "murky water" in Cree.

This river route was used by natives for thousands of years and became a major fur trade route for hundreds of years. This is the only major water route between what is now southern Manitoba and Ontario that allowed natives to easily canoe back and forth. The Red River route was much farther south and with a longer portage. La Verendrye was one of the first explorers to establish fur trade forts near the native camps in the area. The Winnipeg River system through Whiteshell Provincial Park has many petroforms near the Whiteshell River forks where the two rivers meet. These petroforms are an ancient reminder of the importance of the area for native travel, trade, ceremonies, harvesting, and settlements.

Major modern communities along the banks of the Winnipeg River include: Lac du Bonnet, Pinawa, Powerview, and Pine Falls, all in Manitoba, and Kenora and Minaki in Ontario.

The Winnipeg River became an important transportation route to western Canada for fur traders and explorers. The first Europeans to explore the river are believed to have been the sons of the French explorer la Vérendrye, Jean-Baptiste and Pierre Jr. Extensive travel by canoe and boat continued along the river for hundreds of years before the Canadian Pacific Railway was built across Canada.

In Manitoba, the Winnipeg River is broken up by 5 hydroelectric dams: the Point du Bois Generating Station at Eight Foot Falls, Manitoba, Slave Falls just a few kilometres downstream, Seven Sisters Falls Generating Station at Seven Sisters, Manitoba, MacArthur Falls Generating Station, the Great Falls Generating Station, and the Pine Falls Generating Station at Powerview, Manitoba. In Ontario there are dams at Kenora and Whitedog Falls.

There are also many lakes along the Winnipeg River where the river widens, including Nutimik, Eleanor, Dorothy, Margaret, Natalie, and Lac du Bonnet, all in Manitoba. Nutimik, Dorothy, and Margaret Lakes are all entirely within the Whiteshell Provincial Park. Lakes in the Ontario portion of the river include Gun, Roughrock and Sand.

Tributaries include the: Rainy River, English River, Bird River, Lee River, Whiteshell River, and Whitemouth River.

Flows on the Winnipeg River are controlled by the Lake of the Woods Control Board which maintains a website[1] with detailed descriptions of the river basin and water flow characteristics.