Source Christina Lake Province Alberta | Mouth Clearwater River | |
- location , Wood Buffalo, Alberta, Canada | ||
Christina River is a river in the Wood Buffalo region of northern Alberta, Canada. It is a tributary of the Clearwater River. Christina River is part of Christina Lake's 1,250-square-kilometre (480 sq mi) drainage basin. Christina Lake's waters flow into the Jackson River, which flows 11 kilometres (7 mi) before it empties into the Christina River. Christina Lake and Christina River are named to honour Christine Gordon, originally from Scotland, who was the first white women to live permanently in the Fort McMurray area, where she remained until she died in the 1940s.
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Drainage basin
The source of the Christina River is Christina Lake (54°40'N 111°00'W), which is an elongated lake east of Conklin, between Lac La Biche and Fort McMurray, near Highway 881. The lake lies at an elevation of 556 m (1,824 ft) and has a total area of 21.3 km2 (8.2 sq mi). It has a mean depth of 17.3 m (57 ft) and reaches a maximum depth of 32.9 m (108 ft).
Cenovus Energy operates a Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) project in the Christina Lake area, tapping bitumen from the McMurray Formation.
Clearwater River
The Christina River is a tributary of the 295-kilometre (183 mi) Clearwater River. Clearwater River is designated a Canadian Heritage River by both Saskatchewan and Alberta. The waters of the Christina River flow into the Clearwater River which joins the Athabasca River at Fort McMurray. The Clearwater’s waters empty into the Athabaska which eventually reaches the Mackenzie River and later the Arctic Ocean.
The Clearwater River rises in northwestern Saskatchewan in the northern forest region of the Precambrian Shield. From its headwaters at Broach Lake it flows southeast through Saskatchewan before it turns southwest at Careen Lake. It continues 108 kilometres (67 mi) beyond the Alberta border before it joins the Athabasca River at Fort McMurray. This section of the river in Fort McMurray is also more affectionately referred to as The Chant. From there the Clearwater’s waters reach the Mackenzie River and later the Arctic Ocean.
From its headwaters in Broach Lake at 460 metres (1,510 ft) above sea level, the Clearwater drops about 150 metres (490 ft) to its junction with the Athabasca River. The upper part of the river flows over the Precambrian Shield, through rapids, over small waterfalls and through one gorge. More downstream, the river valley enters the Interior Plains and its channels are meandering along sandbars and small islands. The lower Clearwater in Alberta is characterized by high valley walls of limestone and dolomite gorges.
History
Christina Lake and Christina River were named to honour Christine Gordon, the first white women to live permanently in the Fort McMurray area where she remained until she died in the 1940s. She was highly respected by the community, including the First Nations and Metis. Gordon, partly from knowledge gleaned from a Scottish home nursing book, made her own treatments for illnesses and injuries. She could "splint a broken arm, lower a fever, and mix herbal remedies." By 1914 she owned and operated a post in Fort McMurray, in competition with the Hudson's Bay Company.
Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program (RAMP)
The Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program (RAMP) uses the Clearwater River upriver of the Cenovus operations, as a "baseline river system" to provide "information on the variability and characteristics of natural systems" because of the "The lack of significant oil sands developments." The Clearwater River designated as part of the Canadian Heritage Rivers System, flows 187 kilometres (116 mi) from its headwaters in Lloyd Lake in northwestern Saskatchewan, through Saskatchewan and Alberta and joins the Athabasca River at Fort McMurray, eventually reaching the Mackenzie River and the Arctic Ocean.