The Souris River (; ) or Mouse River (as it is alternatively known in the U.S., a translation of its French name) is a river in central

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Approximately in length, it drains about in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Rising in southern

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

in the Yellow Grass Marshes north of

Weyburn Weyburn is the tenth-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. The city has a population of 11,019. It is on the Souris River southeast of the provincial capital of Regina, Saskatchewan, Regina and is north from the North Dakota border in the ...

, the river wanders southeast into the U.S. through

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

beyond Minot to its most southern point at Velva, and then back north into Canada in southwestern

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

Flowing east, it passes through the communities of Melita, Hartney, Souris, and Wawanesa, Manitoba, prior to the confluence with the

Assiniboine River The Assiniboine River ( ; ) is a long river that runs through the prairies of Western Canada in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It is a tributary of the Red River. The Assiniboine is a typical meandering river with a single main channel embanked ...

near Treesbank, about southeast of Brandon. The main tributaries of the Souris in Manitoba are the Antler River, Gainsborough Creek, and Plum Creek. The

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

at the confluence is approximately above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. At the end of the last ice age, over 10,000 years ago, the rapid draining of former Glacial Lake Regina eroded a large channel that is now occupied by the much smaller contemporary Souris River. Also, much of the drainage basin is fertile silt and clay deposited by another former glacial lake, Lake Souris.

Flow rates and flood potential

During the period from 1930 to 1941 severe drought conditions prevailed and PFRA constructed four stock watering dams. In 1937 the Snyder and Ross Dams were built near Melita. In 1938 the Napinka Dam was built and the Hartney Dam was built in 1941. These were all stop log dams with a total capacity of . The Souris Dam was originally built in 1911 and was rebuilt in 1935. The Wawanesa Dam was completed in 1951 storing about of water. Most of the annual flow of the Souris River comes from snow melt and spring rains. The annual flow volume varies dramatically from in 1937 to in 1976. It is expected that the total runoff for 2011 at Wawanesa will exceed about a one in 500-year event. The average annual runoff is equivalent to 3 mm over the entire Souris River watershed.Archived data from Water Survey Canada Two large dams in Saskatchewan, Rafferty Dam and Grant Devine Dam were built, in part, to reduce flood peaks on the Souris River. In summer 2011, a historic flood affected much of the Souris River basin, overtopping levees and causing the evacuation of about 11,000 residents in Minot as well as significant damage to farmland and other property along the length of the river. The channel capacity of the river in Manitoba varies from about near the border, to about through Melita, to about near Lauder and near Hartney. North of Hartney the capacity increases to more than . The drop between the border and Hartney is only about .

Tributaries

* Long Creek * Short Creek * Moose Mountain Creek * Des Lacs River *Livingston Creek * Wintering River * Deep River ** Little Deep Creek ***Spring Coulee ** Cut Bank Creek (North Dakota) ***North Lake **** Egg Creek ***** Hay Coulee **** Buffalo Lodge Lake ***** South Egg Creek * Willow Creek ** Snake Creek (North Dakota) ** Oak Creek **Ox Creek *** Wolf Creek * Plum Creek (Manitoba), a river that drains Plum Lakes and Oak Lake (Manitoba) into the Souris River **Stony Creek, flows into Maple Lake, which drains into Plum Lakes ** Pipestone Creek (Saskatchewan), flows into Oak Lake ***Little Pipestone Creek ***Montgomery Creek *Jackson Creek *Graham Creek * Boundary Creek (North Dakota) * Antler River * Gainsborough Creek

Communities along the river

Cities and towns

* Weyburn, Saskatchewan * Estevan, Saskatchewan * Roche Percee, Saskatchewan *

Oxbow, Saskatchewan Oxbow is a town in the southeast of the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located on the Canadian Pacific Railway and on Highway 18. It is approximately west of Saskatchewan's border with Manitoba and approximately north of the Canad ...

Burlington, North Dakota Burlington is a city in Ward County, North Dakota, United States. It was founded in 1883, the third in a series that included two earlier settlements. Despite this, Burlington is still the oldest city in Ward County, as well as north-western an ...

Minot, North Dakota Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Air Force base approximately north of the city. With a population of 48,377 at the 2 ...

* Velva, North Dakota * Towner, North Dakota * Westhope, North Dakota * Melita, Manitoba * Souris, Manitoba * Wawanesa, Manitoba

Rural Municipalities

* Souris Valley No. 7, Saskatchewan * Municipality of Grassland * Municipality of Oakland-Wawanesa

Bridges across the river

* Eastwood Park Bridge: NRHP-listed crossing in Minot, North Dakota * Elliott Bridge: NRHP-listed crossing in McHenry County, North Dakota * Westgaard Bridge: NRHP listed crossing in McHenry County, North Dakota

Fish species

Fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

species include

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samuel Latham Mitchill fr ...

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

white sucker The white sucker (''Catostomus commersonii'') is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is common ...

, black bullhead, goldeye, brown bullhead, smallmouth bass, and

burbot The burbot (''Lota lota''), also known as bubbot, mariah, loche, cusk, freshwater cod, freshwater ling, freshwater cusk, the lawyer, coney-fish, lingcod, or eelpout, is a species of coldwater ray-finned fish native to the subarctic regions of ...

References

External links

*
USGS Canoeing Information

Rafferty and Alameda Dams

West Souris River Conservation District

Fish Species of Saskatchewan

{{authority control * Rivers of Manitoba Rivers of North Dakota Rivers of Saskatchewan International rivers of North America Bodies of water of Ward County, North Dakota Bodies of water of McHenry County, North Dakota Bodies of water of Bottineau County, North Dakota Bodies of water of Westman Region, Manitoba Tributaries of the Assiniboine River Tributaries of Hudson Bay