The Souris River (/ˈsʊərɪs/; French: rivière Souris) or Mouse River (as it is alternatively known in the U.S., a translation of its French name) is a river in central North America. Approximately 435 miles (700km) in length, itdrains about 23,600 square miles (61,100km2) in Canada and the United States.
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Rising in southern Saskatchewan in the Yellow Grass Marshes north of Weyburn, the river wanders southeast into the U.S. through North Dakota beyond Minot to its most southern point at Velva, and then back north into Canada in southwestern Manitoba.
Flowing east, itpasses through the communities of Melita, Hartney, Souris, and Wawanesa prior to the confluence with the Assiniboine River near Treesbank, about 25 miles (40km) southeast of Brandon. Themain tributaries of the Souris in Manitoba are the Antler River, Gainsborough Creek, and PlumCreek. The elevation at the confluence is approximately 1,120 feet (340m) above sea level.
At the end of the last ice age, over 10,000 years ago, the rapid draining of former Glacial Lake Regina eroded a large channel that is now occupied by the much smaller contemporary Souris River.[3] Also, much of the drainage basin is fertile silt and clay deposited by another former glacial lake, Lake Souris.
Flow rates and flood potential
During the period from 1930 to 1941 severe drought conditions prevailed and PFRA constructed four stock watering dams. In 1937 the Snyder and Ross Dams were built near Melita. In 1938 the Napinka Dam was built and the Hartney Dam was built in 1941. These were all stop log dams with a total capacity of 2,400 acre-feet (3,000,000m3). The Souris Dam was originally built in 1911 and was rebuilt in 1935. The Wawanesa Dam was completed in 1951 storing about 320 acre-feet (390,000m3) of water.
Most of the annual flow of the Souris River comes from snow melt and spring rains. The annual flow volume varies dramatically from 3,400 acre-feet (4,200,000m3) in 1937 to 2,100,000 acre-feet (2.6km3) in 1976. It is expected that the total runoff for 2011 at Wawanesa will exceed 3,800,000 acre-feet (4.7km3) about a one in 500-year event. The average annual runoff is equivalent to 3mm over the entire Souris River watershed.[4]
Two large dams in Saskatchewan, Rafferty Dam and Grant Devine Dam were built, in part, to reduce flood peaks on the Souris River.
In summer 2011, a historic flood affected much of the Souris River basin, overtopping levees and causing the evacuation of about 11,000 residents in Minot as well as significant damage to farmland and other property along the length of the river.
The channel capacity of the river in Manitoba varies from about 150 cubic feet per second (4.2m3/s) near the border, to about 1,400cuft/s (40m3/s) through Melita, to about 1,100cuft/s (31m3/s) near Lauder and 1,700cuft/s (48m3/s) near Hartney. North of Hartney the capacity increases to more than 3,000cuft/s (85m3/s). The drop between the border and Hartney is only about six inches per mile (9.5cm/km).
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This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Souris_River, and is written by contributors.
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