River in Quebec, Canada

The Petite rivière Niagarette (English: Little Niagarette River) is a tributary of the Niagarette River, crossing the municipalities of Saint-Thuribe and Saint-Casimir, in the Portneuf Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Capitale-Nationale, in Quebec, in Canada.

The course of the Petite rivière Niagarette descends first on 3.3 kilometres (2.1 mi) in the forest zone, then entirely in the agricultural environment; thus, forestry and agriculture are the main economic activities in this small valley.

The surface of the Petite Niagarette River (except the rapids zones) is generally frozen from the beginning of December to the end of March, but the safe circulation on the ice is generally made from the end of December to the beginning of March.

Geography

The Little Niagarette River rises at an altitude of 138 metres (453 ft), at the confluence of two streams, on the west side of "La Montagne" in Saint-Thuribe where a ski center is set up. This source is located in a forest area at:

From its source, the course of the Little Niagarette River flows over 12.1 kilometres (7.5 mi) with a drop of 106 metres (348 ft) according to these segments:

The Little Niagarette River flows on the west bank of the Niagarette River, on the west side of the center of the village of Saint-Casimir.

History

Two major floods have been reported in the history of the Niagarette River and the Little Niagarette River, in 1939 and in 1973. The waters of the Little Niagarette River rose by almost 4 meters during the night of September 5 to 6, 1973, following a 6 cm rain accumulation.

Toponymy

The toponyms "Little Niagarette River" and "Niagarette River" are linked.

The toponym "Petite rivière Niagarette" was formalized on August 17, 1978, at the Place Names Bank of the Commission de toponymie du Québec.

Bibliography