Montmorency River

Montmorency River
Rivière Montmorency
Mouth of the Montmorency River
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Capitale-Nationale
Source	Montmorency Lake
- location	Lac-Jacques-Cartier Unorg. Terr.
- elevation	907 m (2,976 ft)
- coordinates	47°34′35″N 71°06′05″W / 47.57639°N 71.10139°W / 47.57639; -71.10139
Mouth	Saint Lawrence River
- location	Boischatel
- elevation	31 m (102 ft)
- coordinates	46°53′06″N 71°08′36″W / 46.88500°N 71.14333°W / 46.88500; -71.14333Coordinates: 46°53′06″N 71°08′36″W / 46.88500°N 71.14333°W / 46.88500; -71.14333
Length	101 km (63 mi)
Basin	1,150 km2 (444 sq mi)
Discharge
- average	35.6 m3/s (1,257 cu ft/s)
- max	580 m3/s (20,483 cu ft/s) May
- min	2.2 m3/s (78 cu ft/s) March

The Montmorency River is a river in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada. It drains into the Saint Lawrence River, about 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) downstream from Quebec City. It is especially known for the impressive Montmorency Falls near its mouth.

It has an average flow of 35.6 m³/s (1,260 cu ft/s). Typical average summer flow is about 25 m³/s (880 cu ft/s), whereas during spring run-off, the river could swell anywhere from 130 to 650 m³/s (4,600 to 23,000 cu ft/s). Above 770 m³/s (27,000 cu ft/s) is considered an exceptional flood condition, and the Montmorency experienced a record flow of 1,100 m³/s (39,000 cu ft/s) in November 1966.

The Montmorency River flows from Lake Montmorency in a southerly direction through the undeveloped Canadian Shield of the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve. Reaching the northern part of the municipality of Château-Richer, it flows between high rocky cliffs that in some places are more than 600 metres (1,969 ft) high. Thereafter, it passes through the municipalities of Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval, Beauport, and Boischatel, where the course of the river is characterized by the presence of numerous rapids before plunging 83 metres (272 ft) over the Montmorency Falls.

The river's watershed basin is sparsely populated, 92% of it is forested and dotted with 424 lakes. The largest lake, with an area of 7.53 square kilometres (2.91 sq mi), is Snow Lake (Lac des Neiges) which is the source of Neiges River, Montmorency's largest tributary. Urban and agricultural land makes up only 2% and 1% of the basin respectively, and is mostly confined to a small section in the far south of the Saint Lawrence lowlands.

The municipalities and unorganized territories that cover the Montmorency basin are:

The larger tributaries of the Montmorency River are (downstream default sorting order):

In 1608, Samuel de Champlain visited the falls at the mouth of the river and named it le grand saut de Montmorency ("the great falls of Montmorency") in honour of Charles de Montmorency (1537-1612), to whom Champlain had dedicated his explorations. The name of the falls came to be applied to the whole river, as the 1641 map by Jean Bourdon showed it as "Saut de Montmorency".