Montmorency River

The Montmorency River is a river in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada. It drains into the Saint Lawrence River, about 9km downstream from Quebec City. It is especially known for the impressive Montmorency Falls near its mouth.It has an average flow of 35.6m³/s. Typical average summer flow is about 25m³/s, whereas during spring run-off, the river could swell anywhere from 130to. Above 770m³/s is considered an exceptional flood condition, and the Montmorency experienced a record flow of 1100m³/s in November 1966.GeographyThe 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 600m 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 83m 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 7.53km2, 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.