The Rivière des Prairies (; ), called the Back River in English, is a delta channel of the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...

in southwestern

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The Kanien'kehá:ka called it ''Skowanoti'', meaning "River behind the island". The river separates the cities of

Laval Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxem ...

and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Geography

Flowing west to east, the Rivière des Prairies bisects the

Hochelaga Archipelago The Hochelaga Archipelago (), also known as the Montreal Islands, is a group of islands at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa rivers in the southwestern part of the province of Quebec, Canada. Population On 1 July 2021, the Ho ...

and originates in the

Lake of Two Mountains Lake of Two Mountains (French: ''Lac des Deux Montagnes'') is part of the river delta widening of the Ottawa River in Quebec, Canada, at its confluence with the St. Lawrence River. Lake of Two Mountains has four outflows: Rivière des Mille Îl ...

. It flows on either side of

Île Bizard Île Bizard is an island near the Island of Montreal in the Hochelaga Archipelago region. History Historically named Île Bonaventure, by 1723 it had come to be named Île Bizard, after Jacques Bizard, to whom it was conceded as a fief in 16 ...

(part of Montreal), then divides the

Island of Montreal The Island of Montreal (french: Île de Montréal) is a large island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, that is the site of a number of municipalities including most of the city of Montreal and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main ...

(

) to the south from

Île Jésus Île Jésus (, '' Jesus Island'') is a river island in southwestern Quebec, separated from the mainland to the north by the Rivière des Mille Îles, and from the Island of Montreal to the south by the Rivière des Prairies. It is the second-l ...

(

) to the north, after which it flows into the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

at the eastern tip of the Island of Montreal. The river contains a large number of islands, including Île Bizard, the

Îles Laval The Îles Laval are an island grouping in the Rivière des Prairies in southwestern Quebec, part of the Hochelaga Archipelago. Formerly an independent municipality (Les Îles-Laval), they became part of the city of Laval on August 6, 1965. Geog ...

( Île Bigras,

Île Pariseau Île Pariseau is a small island located in the Rivière des Prairies across the river from Île Bizard and Montreal Island. The island is part of Îles Laval which is linked to Île Jésus ( Sainte Dorothée, Laval), Quebec, Canada C ...

, Île Verte and Île Ronde) belonging to Laval, and

Île de la Visitation Île de la Visitation is a small island in the Rivière des Prairies, part of the Hochelaga Archipelago, and part of the city of Montreal in Quebec, Canada. Located within the boroughs of Ahuntsic-Cartierville and Montréal-Nord, the island is ...

, a nature

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

belonging to Montreal. There are also islands named Île Mercier, Île Ménard, Île Jasmin, Île Barwick, Île de Roxboro, Île aux Chats, Île Paton, Île Perry, Île Lapierre, Île Boutin, Île Rochon and Île Gagné. The Rivière des Prairies has many

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...

. Rapids are shown in several places on the 1879 map of Henry Whitmersome Hopkins, and on Gordon and Gotch's map of the Island of Montreal from 1924. Named rapids of the river, starting from the west, are the "Rapides de Cap-Saint-Jacques", the Lalemant(Dutchman) Rapids that are located between Île Bizard and Laval ( with a ferry), the "

Rapides du Cheval Blanc There are three locations in Quebec, Canada with the name "Rapides du Cheval Blanc". This article refers to the rapids between the north shore of the Island of Montreal and the south shore of Sainte-Dorothée, Laval. The Rapides du Cheval Blan ...

"(Whitehorse rapids) that are located in between the borough of

Pierrefonds-Roxboro Pierrefonds-Roxboro is a borough of the city of Montreal. It was created January 1, 2006, following the demerger of parts of the city. Geography It is composed of the former municipalities of Pierrefonds and Roxboro, spanning the northern par ...

and Sainte-Dorothée, the Laval rapids, the "

Sault-au-Récollet Sault-au-Récollet (English: Recollet Rapids) is a neighbourhood in Montreal. It is located in the eastern edge of the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville, bordering the Rivière des Prairies. Autoroute 19 connects Sault-au-Récollet to Laval. T ...

Rapids" that are located north of

Bordeaux Prison The Bordeaux Prison (french: Prison de Bordeaux), also known as the Montreal Detention Centre, is a provincial prison in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 800 Gouin Boulevard West in the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville. The prison was ...

, and ending with the "Rapides de la Rivière des Prairies". The riverfront in the West Island area was famous for its beaches along the river. Some were named "Crystal", "Noel/Roy", "Riviera", and Roxboro municipal beach

Environmental issues

The river receives massive discharges of untreated liquid waste from metropolitan Montreal and the newly developed suburbs by way of over 150 discharge outlets. Whenever there is significant rainfall on the island of Montreal, household sewage is mixed with the city street rainwater and discharged untreated into the river. This sewage turns the river into essentially an open sewer. The sewage problem was reported in the year 1911., and a need to purify Montreal sewage in 1935. The Montreal Board of Trade (BOT) commissioned a report on the water pollution in the late 1950s, and the report was given to Premier Barrette. Montreal has six drinking-water plants on the Island whose source of water is the Rivière des Prairies and Lac Saint Louis. Reportedly, Montreal and Quebec city drinking water is tested. It is claimed modern sewage treatment techniques have reversed much of the damage from the sewage. Some people consider the river clean again, starting in the year 1998, when most of the sewage was treated before being discharged. However, parts of the river are never suitable for swimming . Specifically the location of R.D.P. 140, the Rive-Boisée area has been polluted since the year 1971 is still polluted from raw sewage more than forty years later . The Rive-Boisée problem had been noticed and was reported to be repaired in 2014. The reason for the sewage problem is that the storm sewer drain system and the sanitary sewer system were mistakenly connected in many places, and it takes money to correct and repair.Title "Beaconsfield wins cross-connected pipes court case brought forward by homeowner" Montreal Gazette, March 5, 2014
/ref> Reports from the R.S.M.A.(Réseau de suivi du milieu aquatique) dated 2021 on the water quality of RDP-140 indicate the problem has not been fixed. From Bing maps, many of the sewage output locations can be seen on the river shoreline. The solution to the visible pollution (plastic bags, toilet paper, condoms) that accumulates on the shoreline is to use a type of a

screen Screen or Screens may refer to: Arts * Screen printing (also called ''silkscreening''), a method of printing * Big screen, a nickname associated with the motion picture industry * Split screen (filmmaking), a film composition paradigm in which mul ...

at all the

storm drain A storm drain, storm sewer (United Kingdom, United States, U.S. and Canada), surface water drain/sewer (United Kingdom), or stormwater drain (Australia and New Zealand) is infrastructure designed to Drainage, drain excess rain and ground water ...

s and outlets that expel the rainwater-garbage mixture into the river.

References

External links

* RSMA
Le Réseau de suivi du milieu aquatique. The river water tested weekly

Geography

Environmental issues

See also

References

External links

Further reading