Chaudière River
| Chaudière | |
| River | |
 Chutes-de-la-Chaudière
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| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| State | Quebec |
| Source | Lake Mégantic |
| - location | Lac-Mégantic, Estrie |
| - coordinates | 45°34′20″N 70°53′00″W / 45.57222°N 70.88333°W |
| Mouth | Saint Lawrence River |
| - location | Lévis, Chaudière-Appalaches |
| - coordinates | 46°44′34″N 71°16′43″W / 46.74278°N 71.27861°WCoordinates: 46°44′34″N 71°16′43″W / 46.74278°N 71.27861°W |
| Length | 185 km (115 mi) |
| Basin | 6,682 km2 (2,580 sq mi) |
| Discharge | |
| - average | 114 m3/s (4,030 cu ft/s) |
| - max | 470 m3/s (16,600 cu ft/s) |
| - min | 11 m3/s (390 cu ft/s) |
 Chaudiere River basin
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The Chaudière River (French for "Cauldron" or "Boiler") is a 185-kilometre-long (115 mi) river with its source near the Town of Lac-Mégantic, in southeast Quebec, Canada. From its source Lake Mégantic in the Estrie region, it runs northwards to flow into the St. Lawrence River opposite Quebec City.
The river's drainage area is 6,682 square kilometres (2,580 sq mi), initially in the Appalachian Mountains, then in the low-lands of the St. Lawrence, and include 236 lakes covering 62 square kilometres (24 sq mi) and approximately 180,000 inhabitants. Its annual medium flow at the station of Saint-Lambert-de-Lauzon is 114 cubic metres per second (4,000 cu ft/s), varying from 11 cubic metres per second (390 cu ft/s) (low water) to 470 cubic metres per second (17,000 cu ft/s) (spring high water), with historical maximum of 1,760 cubic metres per second (62,000 cu ft/s).
Its principal tributaries are:
The river's basin has nearly 50 percent of the faunal richness of Quebec, namely 330 out of 653 vertebrate species known in the province can be found here.
The river, and the 40-metre-high (130 ft) Chaudière Falls which it passes over en route, are popular outdoor recreation areas.
The Abenaki indigenous people resided close to the Chaudière Falls and named it “Kikonteku”, meaning “River of the Fields”. On the charts of Samuel de Champlain, it was given the name “Etchemin River” (a name now used for another river whose drainage area borders with that of the Chaudière River). It was called "Rivière du Sault de la Chaudière" for a period of time before it became simply "Rivière Chaudière" towards the end of the 18th century. This name refers to the waterfall close to its mouth.
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Wikipedia