Contact Us Search

Location: Alberta Government > Environment > Water > Northern River Basin Study - Home > Table of Contents > Background - The Athabasca River

Air

|

Land

|

Water

|

Climate Change

|

Waste

|

About Us

|

Quick Links Authorization / Approval Viewer Environmental Education Pesticide Management Regions Air Quality Reports Conferences Reports/Publications Library Services Protection & Enforcement Environmental Assessment/Evaluation News Releases SWEEPS Kit State of the Environment

Advisories Water Warnings Forest Fires

Online Reporting Continuous Emissions Monitoring Drinking Water Quality Data Submission Water Well Drilling Report Submissions Water Use Reporting

NRBS - Home Table of Contents		Northern River Basins Study Final Report 1.0 Background 1.3 The Athabasca River The Athabasca River headwaters are formed by the melting snow and glaciers of the Columbia Ice Field on the continental divide. Finely ground particles of rock (or "rock flour") formed by glacial action lend a silty grey colour to the water. The river travels north, cutting a path through the scenic mountains and forests of Jasper National Park. The landscape that surrounds the river valley is a mixture of open forests and grasslands. White spruce grows near to the waters edge. Further back, forests of Douglas-fir, lodgepole pine and aspen provide habitat for elk, mule deer and many species of birds. [Photo 7 on CD3: Jasper National Park] As the river leaves the park, the rugged topography softens into rolling foothills. Coal underlies much of these foothills; covering a broad diagonal swath across the province that parallels the Rocky Mountains. Some of western Canada's largest active open-pit coal mines are found in this region. Further on, the Athabasca River passes the Weldwood pulp mill at Hinton, the oldest of the five mills in the Athabasca River basin. The mill relies completely on the region's softwoods: white and black spruce, lodgepole pine and alpine fir. The river continues north and swings eastward towards the town of Whitecourt, where it encounters the Millar Western pulp mill and the Alberta Newsprint Company. At Whitecourt, the river is joined by the McLeod River that drains areas with open pit coal mines and limestone quarries to the south. Oil and natural gas deposits are found to the north of the river, near Fox Creek and Swan Hills. In fact, one of the largest producing gas fields in the country is located in the Fox Creek area (see Section 3.2 for general information regarding oil, gas and coal developments).
NRBS - Home Table of Contents Top of Page		Leaving Whitecourt, the Athabasca River swings north again and is joined by the Pembina River that drains through prime agricultural lands to the south. By now the waters of the Athabasca are brown from the soil and other materials that it has picked up along its course. As the physical environment changes, so too do the numbers and kinds of organisms in the river. These changes continue along the length of the river, corresponding to specific habitat and nutrient requirements of different fish and aquatic organisms. The Athabasca is joined by the Lesser Slave River, which drains the agricultural and forested areas surrounding Lesser Slave Lake. Another pulp mill, Slave Lake Pulp, is located along the banks of the Lesser Slave River. Beyond Lesser Slave River, the Athabasca dips southward toward the town of Athabasca. Prior to 1904, the town of Athabasca was known as Athabasca Landing and was a site of great importance in northern development. Goods were moved from Edmonton to Athabasca Landing, where they could be barged to northern outposts. The Athabasca Landing Trail, created in the 1870s, was a portage that linked the North Saskatchewan River to the Mackenzie River system, allowing access to the fur trade. With the decline of the fur trade, agriculture, forestry and natural gas rose as the dominant regional industries. Barge traffic along the river declined after the railway was extended to Fort McMurray in the early 1900s. [Photo: 034 on CD1: Hudson's Bay Co. steamer "Athabasca" at Athabasca Landing in 1896.] Figure 1.3.1 Forest Management Areas Turning northeast once again, the Athabasca River passes by a newer feature to the land, the pulp mill owned by Alberta-Pacific (AlPac) Forest Industries Inc. The river runs through the middle of the AlPac Forest Management Agreement (FMA) boundariesóthe area that defines the potential timber supply for the mill. Covering an area of roughly 61,000 km2, AlPac's FMA is much larger than that of other pulp mills in the province (Figure 1.3.1). The pulp mill was constructed to make use of both the hardwood (eg., aspen and balsam poplar) and softwood (eg., white spruce, black spruce and jack pine) resources within the FMA area. Continuing north through the FMA, the Athabasca is joined by La Biche River that drains the agricultural regions surrounding Lac La Biche. Commercial fishing, oil, lumbering and natural gas also contribute to the local economy of the Lac La Biche area. The Athabasca River continues northward through the boreal mixed wood forest and evolves into a series of major rapids. The influence of these rapids on the rest of the Athabasca River is quite significant. Not only do they pose an obstacle to river travel, they also serve as a major spawning area for fish, such as lake whitefish and walleye. The turbulence of the water also replenishes levels of dissolved oxygen needed for fish and other aquatic organisms. This aeration takes on an added significance during the winter months, when ice cover blocks contact with the air and dissolved oxygen levels dwindle.
NRBS - Home Table of Contents Top of Page		Beyond the rapids, the Athabasca River encounters the city of Fort McMurray. Historically, Fort McMurray was another outpost of the fur trade and a major site for the transport of goods north along the Athabasca River. Here, the river cuts through shallow oil sands deposits and its waters are tinged with natural hydrocarbons. Bitumen (the raw hydrocarbon of the oil sands) is visible as an asphalt-like substance along the banks of the river. Indians once used bitumen to patch their canoes. Today, the Athabasca oil sands provide a non-conventional source of oil that is currently mined by two companies (Suncor and Syncrude) located just north of the city of Fort McMurray. At Fort McMurray, the Athabasca River is joined by the Clearwater River that flows across the border from Saskatchewan. The Clearwater River's major tributary, the Christina River, drains an area with extensive oil and gas development. The Athabasca continues north past Fort McKay and Bitumont, where the abandoned facilities of Alberta's first pilot oil sands operation can be found. The river then becomes the eastern border of Wood Buffalo National Park, where the terrain becomes wetter and dominated by black spruce and boggy areas. The main portion of the Athabasca and its tributary (the Embarras River) continue on to Lake Athabasca. Lake Athabasca marks the end of the Athabasca River's 1231 km trek from the Rocky Mountains. With an area of 7936 km2, it is the fourth largest lake entirely in Canada. The lake is shared by Alberta and Saskatchewan, and is a valuable local resource for fishing. It is surrounded by areas that are naturally rich in uranium.

...PREVIOUS

NEXT...

Environment Home | Search | Contact Us | Privacy Statement |  Minister's Office Expenses Emergency Numbers The user agrees to the terms and conditions set out in the Copyright and Disclaimer statement. © 2009 Government of Alberta