Churchill Falls

Churchill Falls is a waterfall named after former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. It is 245ft high, located on the Churchill River (before 1965 the Hamilton River, the falls being named Grand Falls) in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. 4mi above the falls, the Churchill River narrows to 200ft and negotiates a series of rapids before dropping into MacLean Canyon, from which sheer cliffs rise several hundred feet on either side. The river flows a total of 12mi through the canyon over a series of rapids. The total drop from the rapids above the main falls to the end of MacLean Canyon is 1038ft.Since 1970, the waters of the Churchill River have been diverted into the nearby Churchill Falls hydroelectric power station. Today water flows down the falls less than once a decade, during spring thaw or periods of exceptional rains. The Churchill Falls power station has the third largest hydroelectric-generating capacity in North America (5428MW installed, expandable to about 6300MW) and is also the second largest underground power station in the world, after the Robert-Bourassa generating station in northern Quebec.