Believe it or not this should be fairly simple ... water
starts at the Snow Dome, Columbia Icefield ... and travels to five different oceans/seas
...
 |
| See link below - Watershed assessment |
Pacific - the largest rivers being the Fraser, the Yukon and
the Columbia ...
Arctic (water that flows into the Arctic or into channels of
the Arctic Islands) - the largest river is the Mackenzie: it is Canada's
largest river basin, and the tenth largest in the world ...
Hudson Bay - approximately 30% of Canada's water drains into
this watershed. (While Hudson Bay, James
Bay, Ungava Bay and Foxe Basin are referred to as part of the Hudson Bay
drainage area). The rivers are the
Nelson, Churchill and La Grand Rivière.
Atlantic - most drainage basins in eastern Canada and the
Maritimes flow to the Atlantic, particularly the Great Lakes-St Lawrence
system.
... and even as far
south as Mexico - a small portion of freshwater via the Milk River, which is
the northernmost tributary, into the Missouri-Mississippi system ...
There are closed drainage systems in Alberta and
Saskatchewan ...
 |
| For original see Wiki: Snow Dome |
The Snow Dome is where the Banff and Jasper National Parks meet the borders of
Alberta and British Columbia ... so named by J Norman Collie in 1898 - where
the mountain reaches a height of 3,456m (11,339 feet) as he thought it likely that it is the hydrological apex of
North America ...
However, America could have claim to this via the Triple
Divide Peak in Glacier National Park, Montana - but we're talking Canada ... so
I'll stick with Snow Dome!!
I think these two maps explain the watersheds perfectly ...
and I'll leave this as a very simple 'W' ...
That is W for a very wet wide-reaching Watersheds post ... from Aspects by a British 'girl' in
Canada ...
For more information please see these two sites:
Canadian Geographic - The Atlas ... Watershed ...
Environment and Climate Change Canada - Watershed Assessment
...
Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories
36 comments:
Hari OM
Well. water is mighty important, so respect for 'shed'ding light on the Canadian flow! YAM xx
Water, the stuff of life.
Wow that is impressive. Watersheds and continental divides always get my attention when traveling...:)
I live just west of the Eastern Divide in the State of Georgia, USA. I taught physical geography for about 14 years. The topic never bores me.
Amazing how that works - water means life.
How interesting.
Coffee is on
Water is powerful, a life giver, a destroyer and a benison. Thank you so much for this post. And no, my ignorant self had never stopped to consider the five oceans/seas aspect of Canada. My education continues.
And I should also have said that W also stands for Wow and for wonderful.
Another day another lesson lerned! All that water, all those seas!I had no idea.
A-Z of My Friend Rosey!
Wet and wonderful! Can't manage without water...wondering how many freeze over during the winter?
Your epic knowledge reminds me of why I love Jeopardy, the game show so much. These are the things a person needs to know to win, and it's clear I have a long way to go.(lol) I'm bookmarking this page, and I thank you so much for sharing this important info! Hugs...RO
The Artic is so vast! I figured it would be high up on the list. Of course, I'm partial to the Atlantic. It's where I love to get my feet wet in the summer. :)
Elsie
wow - never thought about the flow of water
Watershed sounds much more dramatic than what we call drainage areas. Watershed, as I'm sure you know, is 9pm at night when TV may show more mature programmes.
Wonderful wandering of the wet stuff Hilary. I'm fascinated by watershed info. I have a friend who is a bit of a geek about it and has everyone learn theirs so they identify themselves. So in honor of her, I am Deborah, of the DesPlaines River-Kankakee River-Illinois River-Mississippi River-Gulf of Mexico.
A majestic country! Lucky you for getting to be there. And no lack of water, it seems! I live in the driest continent in the world.
Australian Children's Writers: W Is For Gabrielle Wang
https://suebursztynski.blogspot.com.au/2018/04/a-to-z-blogging-challenge-w-is-for.html
@ Yamini - yes water is essential to life isn't it ...
@ Liz - water is the stuff of life ...
@ Troutbirder - so glad this hit your geography heart! It certainly hit mine ... and was fun to write about ...
@ Ann- thanks ... there are other divides - as yours ... but good you know about it ... well I guess you should if you're a teacher!
@ Sandy - it was interesting to see the watersheds ...
@ Dora - good to see you here, and am glad you enjoyed it ...
@ EC - water and how it all works down the rivers is so wonderfully lifegiving ... we are lucky here. Thanks for the W and W ... appreciate both!
@ Keith - I could have expanded a bit ... but there's enough there to slake watery thirsts!
@ Nila - it was so interesting to find this out ... and I've no idea how many freeze over ... not all ...
@ RO - I teach myself as I go along ... some of those on quiz shows are very knowledgeable. I've taught myself much writing up these posts over the years ... so glad you enjoyed the read - thank you.
@ Elsie - the Arctic is another matter isn't it ... but remember this map is flattened - hence the extra hugeness ... but your toe dipping in the summer is always good to read about ...
@ Joanne - it is something we forget in our day to day tap running isn't it ...
@ Bob - yes watershed at 9.00 pm British time - when more adult programmes can be shown on the Beeb. Drainage areas don't have quite the same cache as watersheds ... so true
@ Deborah - hey ... that's wonderful you've got a friend who is so geeky re water ... and welcome to this watershed post oh ye Deborah of DesPlaines River, Kanakee River, Illinois River, Mississippi River, Gulf of Mexico lady!!
@ Sue - yes - it is certainly majestic, and I am lucky being here ... they do get water shortages ...in some smaller drainage areas ... but Australia is distinctly short on water ... difficultly so ..
Thanks so much for being here ... we're lucky that the wet stuff keeps us going and let's us activate our minds ... cheers Hilary
Thanks for the very interesting geography lesson Hilary!
CLICK HERE for Bazza’s heuristic Blog ‘To Discover Ice’
How have I gone my entire life without understand 'watersheds'. Yikes! Thanks, Hilary.
Hi Hilary!
This was of great interest! Such an abundance of water would be wonderful here in the desert where we just recorded our driest winter on record, further dwindling our scarce water supply. We'll be performing rain dances soon, I expect ;-)
Love this post. Watersheds are fascinating, even on a local level.
I was fortunate to cruise through Frasier River Canyon twice (once on a motorcycle). That is such a magnificent area.
Interesting to learn what rivers flow into these watersheds!
The oldest resident on earth
This is one of those things that you *know*... but don't think about.
And when you do think about it, your jaw drops in astonishment.
Thank you for astonishing me today! :-)
Thanks for the geography lesson Hilary. I do remember driving north and passing a sign which announced that from that point all rivers flowed North. I didn't know about the Snow Dome though. I wonder if it is shrinking along with so many other similar areas.
@ Bazza - geography is always interesting!
@ Jacqui - well that's great ... Canada has some amazing examples ...
@ Diedre - I'm sure you could do with a lot of water down there ... I hope you don't have to perform rain dances ... but I guess anything is possible ...
@ Dan - thanks - yes I agree the local supplies are so important too. I have yet to see the Fraser River - I expect I will ... lucky you though ... I expect the motor bike trip was fun - not sure which I'd rather do ...
@ Sherry - I was delighted when I saw the information here for this post = so helpful!!
@ Steve - you are right there ... clever!
@ Jz - exactly ... one just does know ... yet always comes and surprises us when it's so obvious and we find out ... glad you enjoyed it ...
@ Jo - pleasure! I didn't know about the Snow Dome ... but it amused me and I thought great as W for this post ... the melt water will still spread its wings - and I'm sure for a few more years ...
Thanks to all of you ... it is baking here - so I'm grateful for our well water - cheers Hilary
Great maps and explanation, Hilary. I had no idea that 30% of Canada's water drains into Hudson Bay. That's a lot of water.
yes, this is a very wide-reaching post. I had no idea that the watersheds were so extensive!
Water is life. Lovely post.
I really like the maps here! And once again, it reminds me how absolutely huge Canada is.
Most interesting Hilary thank you - hard to imagine you are baking? Heat? Glad you've got a well nearby .. and drink lots of lovely healthy water.
Fascinating and I think it really shows how big Canada is with how far the water reaches. Thanks for such an interesting post.
Thanks for the lesson. Water is SOOOOO important. What a great post!
~Jess
@ Emily - thanks ... it is such an interesting post - I enjoyed writing it up ... and the stats amazed me ...
@ Marcy - yes wide-ranging is right isn't it ... and I was surprised to see these maps - made it easy for me!!
@ Lynn - water is life isn't it ...
@ Lynda - thanks: the maps made it easy to understand ... and yes Canada is huge ...
@ Susan - well did we bake, then we unbaked ... now it is really heating up ... fortunately the well comes via a pump! so no electricity = no water ... from the artesian well below the farm, but water is there.
@ Pam - I know the river systems are huge aren't they ....
@ Jess - water is the necessity of life ... I found that out at Christmas when the electrics went down = no water ... well obviously the snow was there ... but as you say SOOOOOOO important.
Thanks everyone - so glad you enjoyed this ... it was a pleasure to write up and so interesting too ... cheers to you all - on a day when we do need water ... as it's turned 'warm' here - take care - Hilary
You need to write a geography book about Canada!
Hi Claire - I think that might stretch me - I was lucky finding out about the Canadian watersheds ... making the post easy for me to adapt - but appreciate your thumbs up for my postings - cheers Hilary
Post a Comment