| Saint Mary River | |
|---|---|
 St. Mary River downstream fromSaint Mary Lake | |
  Location of the mouth in Alberta | |
| Location | |
| Countries | United States andCanada |
| State | Montana |
| Province | Alberta |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | nearGunsight Lake |
| • location | Glacier National Park,Lewis Range,Glacier County,Montana,United States |
| • coordinates | 48°37′13″N113°44′37″W / 48.62028°N 113.74361°W /48.62028; -113.74361[1] |
| • elevation | 7,560 ft (2,300 m)[2] |
| Mouth | Oldman River |
• location | nearCottonwood Park,Alberta,Canada |
• coordinates | 49°37′38″N112°53′13″W / 49.62722°N 112.88694°W /49.62722; -112.88694[1] |
• elevation | 2,739 ft (835 m)[1] |
TheSaint Mary River (Blackfoot:Apahktóksipisskan), is a cross-bordertributary of theOldman River, itself a tributary of theSouth Saskatchewan River. The Saint Mary together with theBelly River andWaterton River drains a small portion ofMontana, in the United States, to theHudson Bay watershed in Canada.
The river rises as a stream onGunsight Mountain inGlacier National Park and flows into Gunsight Lake, then flows intoSaint Mary Lake, exits the park and flows on intoLower St. Mary Lake in theBlackfeet Indian Reservation. From the reservation, the St. Mary River flows intoAlberta and into theSt. Mary Reservoir. It flows into the Oldman River which eventually reaches the Saskatchewan River.
It passes near the town ofCardston, Alberta, and the city ofLethbridge, Alberta.
The St. Mary River also provides water for irrigation in Southern Alberta. The St. Mary River Irrigation District (SMRID) is Canada’s largestirrigation district delivering water through 2,060 kilometres (1,280 mi) of canals and pipelines to approximately 1,505 square kilometres (372,000 acres) of land south of the Oldman and South Saskatchewan Rivers between Lethbridge andMedicine Hat.
The irrigation project was started in 1898, and on September 4, 1900, the first water was brought toLethbridge by the project. In December 1945 theCanadian Pacific Railway transferred control of the projects to the government of Alberta, creating the St. Mary and Milk River Development (SMRD). A dam was created in 1946 on the St. Mary River, to service the irrigation system, and water finally reached Medicine Hat in 1954 upon the completion of the St. Mary Main Canal.[3]
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