The Nelson River Drainage Basin
Craig Christensen
Julie Nitsche Olsen
Astrid Mathilda Arvidson
Contents 1.
Profile of the Nelson
River Drainage Basin
2. Water Resources and
Their Usage in Western
Canada
3. Challenges in River
Management
Part One
Where?
Basic Statistics
Mean Discharge
2370 m³/s
Total Catchment Area
1,093,442km²
Land Cover
Grasslands
Forest
Wetlands
Shrub
Arid
5%
34%
27%
2%
22%
Land Usage
Cultivated
Protected Area
51%
4%
Major Cities (over 100,000)
Situated in Basin
(Listed by population)
Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg,
Saskatoon, Regina, Fargo
Number of Large Dams
13
Major Tributaries of the Nelson River
Statistics for Major Tributaries
Red River of the North
Saskatchewan
Mean Discharge
700 m³/s
Catchment Area
335,900km²
Altitude Change
(From source
confluence to base)
(from source to
base)
160m
1900m
Winnipeg
Catchment Area
29,000 km²
Catchment Area
287,00
0 km²
Altitude Change (
From source to base)
70m
Assiniboine
Mean Discharge
45m³/s
Catchment Area
182,00
0 km²
Altitude Change
(From source to base)
410m
Factors Affecting The River Basin
• Climate
▫ More arid in southern regions
▫ Majority of precipitation in summer months
▫ Over 5 months of daily mean temperature below
freezing allows for build-up of snow
 Southern regions thaw sooner than larger. The Nelson
river and the Red River both flow from South to North,
meaning snow and ice build up can cause flooding.
Factors Affecting The River Basin
• Topography of the Basin
▫ Rocky Mountains
▫ Topography of the Praries
 Glaciers created a flat, undulating landscape
 Deep soils
 Drainage pattern in Dendritic
 Groundwater Sources
 3 different levels of the prairies
The composition of the Long Profile
• Short Upper Course
▫ The Saskatchewan River experience a rapid fall in
altitude near their source (beginning at over 1900m at
glacial sources)
• Extended middle course
▫ Rivers meander gently across prairies
• No upper course proper in the Red River North
▫ From source to base level, there is only 1m fall per 5km
of river length
▫ No river gorge or flood plain due to low erosion rates
▫ Very prone to flooding.
Bow Glacier
Source of one of the tributaries to
the South Saskatchewan River
North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton,
Alberta
Notice the asymmetrical
meandering
Confluence of the
North and South
Saskatchewan
Rivers
Notice the formation of more symmetrical meanders, and
the high angle of incidence of the two channels. This is an
indication of the slowing speed of the river.
The Red River
The Red River lacks a river valley ,
cause by a low gradient and slow
erosion rates
Assiniboine River
Notice the steeper sides of the
River
Fluvial features
• Lake Winnipeg
▫ Source of the Nelson River
▫ 11th largest lake in the World
▫ Winnipeg, capital of the province of Manitoba, lies
at its southern shore.
▫ Fifth largest lake in Canada, but still very shallow
due to the deposition of material in it.
 Mean depth of only 12m
 Well know for many sandy beaches.
Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba
One of the beaches along the
shores of Lake Manitoba
Nelson River Mouth
• Mesotidal Estuary
▫ Mesotidal: “coastal ocean or waterway with a
moderate mean tidal range (i.e. 2m to 4m)”
 (Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) )
▫ Hudson’s Bay is frozen most of the year
▫ Sediment form river has different aldebo,
speeding up sea ice melting
Mouth of the Nelson River
Sources
• http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/publications/wcsb_atlas/
A_CH26/CH_26.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_River
• http://earthtrends.wri.org/maps_spatial/maps_full
scale.php?mapID=395&theme=2
• http://www.salinesystems.org/content/figures/174
6-1448-1-10-2-l.jpg
• http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/imagerec
ords/1000/1821/HudsonBay.A2001138.1720lrg.jpg
• http://www.wildernessspirit.com/assiniboine%20ri
ver%20L.jpg
Part Two
Main usages
•
•
•
•
Irrigation
Idustry (oil)
Hydro-electric power
Drinking water
Irrigation
• 5000 km2< irrigated of South Saskatchewan
River drainage basin annualy
Oil industry
Must separate sand
bitumen
Oil industry
•
•
•
•
No clear quantitative data
Enviromentalists makes claims
Groundwater decreasing
½ of natural flow must enter Saskatchewan
Hydro-electric power
Hydro-electric power
• Lake Winnipeg 3rd largest resevoir globally
• Finalized 1979
• Large surface area (24514km2)waterlevel does
not change much
• 23.3TWh annualy in Nelson River
• Complaints from local owners
• Operator: Manitoba Hydro
• Worries about Cree (Churchill River)
Sources
• http://www.safewater.org/PDFS/resourcesknowthe
facts/Cdn_Prairie_Drink_Water.pdf
• http://www.sicc.sk.ca/saskindian/a77mar07.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_River_Hydro
electric_Project
• http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7111/is_3_33
/ai_n32067867/
• http://www.albertawater.com/index.php?option=co
m_content&view=article&id=80&Itemid=78
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Winnipeg
• Craig William Christensen’s presentation about
“Athabasca Tar Sands”
Challenges in Management
• CASE STUDY :
▫
▫
▫
▫
Flood prone area
1950, 1997, 2009
Red River of the North
Dakotas and Manitoba
Flood in May 1950
• Causes: heavy precipitation in winter/spring
• 100 000 people evacuated
• 6 people dead
• Damage: 600 – 1000 million CAD
• Worst damaged: Winnipeg
Result
•
•
•
•
•
•
Red River Floodway
1962 - 1972
73.5 million m³ earth
47 km channel
63 million CAD
Saved estimated
10 billion CAD in
potential damages
Red River Floodway
Flood in April and May 1997
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
”The Flood of the Century”
12 m above winter levels
5 km inland
1820 km² inunded
Grand Forks & East Grand Forks
500 million CAD in damages
Winnipeg saved by RRF
St. Agathe 1997
Brunkild Dike
Flood in 2009
• Causes:
▫
▫
▫
▫
High winter snowfall
High temperature snow melt rate
Rainstorm on March 22 -25 (20 cm) of ppt
Ice jams
• Volunteer efforts reduce damage
• Sandbagging
▫ 2 million bags
• Salvation army
• Ring dikes
• Red River Floodway
Fargo-Moorhead 2009
Fargo-Moorhead 2009
Sum up of Manitoban Flood
Management Plan
• Red River Floodway
▫ In 2003, the province announced plans to expand the
Floodway, increasing its flow capacity from 2,550
m³/s to 4,000 m³/s. It was decided to widen the
Floodway as opposed to deepening it because of the
soil and ground conditions in the area.
• Ring dikes around communities
• Shellmouth reservoir
• Promotion of non-structural planning:
▫ Emergency preparation
▫ Flood proofing
▫ Land regulation
Fun stuff to end with
• The Last Saskatchewan Pirate
▫ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G_L9tXEw
mc
▫ http://artists.letssingit.com/arrogant-wormslyrics-the-last-saskatchewan-pirate-c73bzxw
• Norway House, Manitoba
▫ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway_House
Sources
• http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Param
s=M1ARTM0011336
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_Floodway
• http://watertreatment.ca/2009/manitobas-flood-management/
• http://www.apfm.info/pdf/case_studies/canada.pdf
• http://www.syntexgeo.com/images/a_newimages_may08/_400pixels/bag
%20drop_400.gif
• http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/images/redriver.jpg
• http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/customcode/TCEMediaPopup.c
fm?Language=E&ArticleID=M0011336&MediaID=6063&TB_iframe=true
&height=612&width=885&modal=true
• www.ndsu.edu/fargo_geology/fldphotos2009.htm