Rivière des Prairies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Rivière des Prairies (Lirerally River of Meadows, sometimes called the Back River in English) is a delta channel of the Ottawa River in southwestern Quebec, Canada.
Flowing west to east, it bisects the Hochelaga Archipelago and rises in the Lac des Deux-Montagnes. It divides the Island of Montreal (Montreal) to the south from Île Jésus (Laval) and Île Bizard (part of Montreal) to the north, and flows into the Saint Lawrence River at the eastern tip of the Island of Montreal.
The river contains a large number of islands, including the Îles Laval (Île Bigras, Île Pariseau, Île Verte and Île Ronde) belonging to Laval, and Île de la Visitation, a nature park belonging to Montreal. The Rapides du Cheval Blanc are located downstream from the Îles Laval, in the portion of the river separating the borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro in Montreal from Sainte-Dorothée in Laval.
Historically, the river received massive discharges of untreated liquid waste from Montreal, turning it into essentially an open sewer; however, ecological intervention and modern sewage treatment techniques reversed the damage and the river is now considered clean, however, still not suitable for swimming.
