Beaver River (Canada)

Beaver River
Physical characteristics
Mouth	Lac Ile-a-la Crosse, Saskatchewan
Length	491 km

Beaver River is a large river in east-central Alberta, central Saskatchewan, Canada.

Beaver River has a cachement area of 14,500 km² in Alberta, where it drains the lake system in Lakeland County. The total length is 491 km.

It was first documented on the Turnor map of 1790, and then confirmed on the Harmon map of 1820.

Course

Beaver River originates in Beaver Lake, south of Lac la Biche and the Northern Woods and Water Route. It flows south and then turns east and flows toward the Alberta/Saskatchewan border, which it crosses south of Cold Lake. At this point, the Beaver river has an average annual discharge of 653,000,000 m³. It continues east in Saskatchewan on to the village of Green Lake, where it turns north and flows toward the Lac Ile-a-la Crosse in the Churchill Lake system. From here, its waters are carried to the Hudson Bay by the Churchill River.

Tributaries

• Mooselake River
• Sand River
• Makwa River
• Meadow River
• Waterhen River

Conservation and Development

Beaver River flows through a predominantly flat area with rolling and undulating hills, and many lakes are drained through meandering streams into the river (among the larger ones are Lac La Biche, Pinehurst Lake, Cold Lake, Primrose Lake.

Lakeland Provincial Park, Mooselake Provincial Park and Cold Lake Provincial Park all lie in the river basin on the Alberta side, while the Meadow Lake Provincial Park protects a large area in Saskatchewan.

The Cold Lake Area Weapons Range occupies much of the northern area of the river basin.

See Also

• List of Alberta rivers
• List of Saskatchewan rivers

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