| Nicolet River | |
|---|---|
 Nicolet River inKingsey Falls | |
  | |
| Native name | Rivière Nicolet (French) |
| Location | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Quebec |
| Region | Centre-du-Québec |
| MRC | Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Lake Nicolet |
| • location | Saints-Martyrs-Canadiens |
| • coordinates | 45°49′19″N71°35′33″W / 45.82206°N 71.59259°W /45.82206; -71.59259 |
| • elevation | 350 metres (1,150 ft) |
| Mouth | Lake Saint Pierre |
• location | Nicolet |
• coordinates | 46°15′09″N72°39′09″W / 46.2526°N 72.6524°W /46.2526; -72.6524 --> |
• elevation | 5 metres (16 ft) |
| Length | 137 km (85 mi) |
| Basin size | 3,380 km2 (1,310 mi2) |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | St. Lawrence River |
| River system | Saint Lawrence River |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | (upstream) chenal de la Ferme, cours d'eau André-Roy,Nicolet Southwest River, cours d'eau Roland-Pinard; ruisseaux: Maurice-Vincent, Houle, du Onzième, Martin,rivière des Rosiers, ruisseau Gosselin, ruisseau Noir, cours d'eau Nolin, ruisseau Morin, ruisseau Turgeon, décharge du lac à la Truite. |
| • right | (upstream) ruisseaux: Bellerose, Yves-Proulx, de la Concession du Petit-Saint-Esprit, Siméon-Provencher, Horion, J.-B.-Provencher, Maurice-Turmel, Alfred-Lemire, Grondin-Comeau, Douglas, Camirand, Lepitre, Saint-Onge, Dubuc,Bulstrode River; ruisseaux: l'Abbé, Faucher, Taillon,Gosselin River; ruisseaux: Roux, des Roux,Brooks River,Dumont River, cours d'eau Lafontaine, cours d'eau Hamel; ruisseau des Aulnes, ruisseau de la Fromagerie, ruisseau Moras, ruisseau Girard,rivière des Vases, ruisseau Couture, ruisseau de l'Aunière. |
TheNicolet River (French:Rivière Nicolet) is ariver inQuebec,Canada. It is a tributary of theSaint Lawrence River on its southern shore and flows intoLake Saint Pierre. It is named in honor of the pioneerJean Nicolet.
It has several tributaries including the River Bulstrode and the Nicolet River Southwest. Its watershed is mainly in theCentre-du-Québec region although the Southwest Nicolet rises inEstrie. The city ofNicolet is near its mouth on thelake Saint-Pierre which is crossed to the northwest by the St. Lawrence River.
The Nicolet River begins its course from 137 kilometres (85 mi) at an altitude of approximately 350 metres (1,150 ft) inlake Nicolet, atSaints-Martyrs-Canadiens.[1] It then flows in a northwesterly direction toNicolet where it flows intolac Saint-Pierre.[1]
Itswatershed has an area of 3,380 kilometres (2,100.23 mi).[1] Itsmodulus is 79 cubic metres per second (2,800 cu ft/s).[2] Its main tributaries are, from upstream to downstream, the riversdes Vases,des Pins,des Rosiers,Bulstrode andNicolet Southwest.[2] The latter, which joins the Nicolet at 5 kilometres (3.1 mi), drains half of the basin.[1] The basin includes 40 lakes,[2] the most important of which arelake Nicolet (401 hectares (990 acres)),les Trois Lacs (Les Sources) (225 hectares (560 acres)) and theBeaudet reservoir (88 hectares (220 acres)).[1]
The part upstream ofSaint-Léonard-d'Aston is part of theAppalaches. The subsoil is composed ofsedimentary rocks folded and metamorphosed (shale,slate andsandstone),volcanic rocks (basalt) andultramafic rocks (Serpentine andasbestos).[3] As for the section downstream fromSaint-Léonard-d'Aston, it is composed of sedimentary rocks (schist,dolomite,limestone,sandstone) in horizontal strata of theSt. Lawrence Lowlands.[3]
The unconsolidated deposits of theQuaternary of theSt. Lawrence Lowlands are composed ofclay,sand andgravel from the retreat of theChamplain Sea andpeatlands.[3] The Appalachian sector is composed oftills from the retreat of theglaciers andfluvioglacial deposits composed of sand and gravel.[3]
The basin was inhabited by 96665 inhabitants in 2003.[4] The territory is included in 37 municipalities. The main towns in the basin areVictoriaville (39799 inhabitants),Nicolet (7963 inhabitants) andVal-des-Sources (6627 inhabitants).[4]
The river was initially baptized Rivière Du Pont bySamuel de Champlain in1609 to honor his friendFrançois Gravé, sieur du Pont.[5] It also bore the name of Gast river, in honor ofPierre Dugua de Mons (general of New France) andMonet River, in honor of Pierre Monet, sieur de Moras.[5] As for its current name, it owes it to the explorerJean Nicolet.[5] They also bore the name of the first lords ofNicolet, namely Laubia and Cressé.[5] TheAbenakis call itPithiganitekw, which means 'river of the entrance', due to the fact that it flows near the outlet oflake Saint-Pierre.[5]
The toponym "rivière Nicolet" was made official on December 5, 1968 at theCommission de toponymie du Québec.[6]
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