Chats Falls (in French: ''Chute des Chats'', meaning "Cat Falls") were a set of

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

s on the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) 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 Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...

, near

Fitzroy Harbour, Ontario Fitzroy Harbour is a small village within the city of Ottawa in eastern Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Ottawa River at the mouth of the Carp River. A branch of the Mississippi River, known as the Snye, also empties into the Ottawa to the w ...

, and Quyon, Quebec, Canada. A

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

generating station is now located here, owned and operated jointly by

Hydro-Québec Hydro-Québec () is a Canadian Crown corporations of Canada#Quebec, Crown corporation public utility headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. It manages the electricity generation, generation, electric power transmission, transmission and electricity ...

and

Ontario Power Generation Ontario Power Generation Inc. (OPG) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and "government business enterprise" that is responsible for approximately half of the electricity generation in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is w ...

. It lies within the cities of

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

and

Pontiac, Quebec Pontiac () is a municipality in the Outaouais Region of western Quebec, Canada, on the north shore of the Ottawa River. It is part of Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipality, included in the National Capital Region. It should n ...

History

Prior to the construction of the dam and power generating station, the Chats Falls was a waterfall with a 10.7 metre (35 feet) drop in the river, and consisted of a series of chutes running from what is now the eastern end of the dam all the way to the westernmost corner of Pontiac Bay (). In their natural state the Chats Falls were a tourist attraction. In the years leading up to World War One it was fairly common to see large steam boats (paddle wheelers) heading up river with their decks full of sightseers. In 1786, a homestead was built on what is known today as Indian Point on the northern end of Pontiac Bay. In 1800 this property was taken over by the

XY Company The XY Company, also known as the New North West Company, was a joint-stock fur trading enterprise based in Montreal that conducted business chiefly in the Canadian Northwest between 1798 and 1804.North West Company The North West Company was a Fur trade in Canada, Canadian fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in the regions that later became Western Canada a ...

in 1804, and then the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

in 1821, when these two companies merged. The HBC operated a small trading post, which closed in 1837.

Horse railway

In 1847, the Union Rail Road was established at Chats Falls. Passengers were treated to a horse-drawn railroad trip of through the dense forest skirting the rough waters. While the roof sheltered passengers from rain and sun, the sides were open to mosquitoes, which brought complaints from many of the river travelers. In 1853, James Poole, editor of The Carleton Place Herald, wrote about the Chats Falls horse railway:

Generating station

Construction on a

run-of-river Run-of-river hydroelectricity (ROR) or run-of-the-river hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric generation plant whereby little or no water storage is provided. Run-of-the-river power plants may have no water storage at all or a limited amou ...

generating station and dam began in 1929 and was completed in 1932, destroying the falls and creating Lac des Chats reservoir behind the dam. The powerhouse is in the middle of the Ottawa River on the Ontario/Quebec border. On March 2, 1953, a fire started in the morning, burning for 7 hours and destroying 2 generators and the building's roof. The station went completely down when the cables were damaged. Two of the eight generating units were brought back into operation the following day and another four units brought on-line the following week. In all, $2 million in damage was done. The power station has 8 turbines (4 managed by Ontario Power Generation and 4 managed by Hydro-Québec) with a

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

of 16.16 meter (53 feet), generating a total of 79 MW.

References

External links

Ontario Power Generation - Chats Falls
{{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Chute-des-Chats generating station , bridge signs = , upstream = Morris Island Train Bridge , upstream signs = , downstream = West Carleton-Quyon Ferry , downstream signs = Landforms of Ottawa National Capital Region (Canada) Waterfalls of Ontario Waterfalls of Quebec Landforms of Outaouais

History

Horse railway

Generating station

See also

References

External links