The Region
The Gouin Reservoir is a reservoir located in the central part of Quebec, in Haute-Mauricie.
It has therefore a relative long shoreline of over 5,600 km (3,500 mi) (excluding islands) compared to its surface area of 1,789 km2 (610 sq mi).
It is the source of the Saint-Maurice River.
History
The reservoir is named after Jean Lomer Gouin, who was Premier of Quebec when, in 1918, the Shawinigan Water & Power Company impounded the reservoir for hydroelectric development. The Gouin Reservoir has a 600 MW station for local use, but is used to control the flow of the St-Maurice River for the stations down-stream (all operated now by Hydro-Québec).
Initially, the “Commission des eaux courantes du Québec” (English: Quebec Running Water Board) wanted to facilitate the floating of wood that was routed via the Saint-Maurice River, to the paper mills of La Tuque to Trois-Rivières. The first work was built on La Loutre rapids in 1916-1917. The Shawinigan Water and Power Company decided to raise the level of the reservoir in 1948 and it was also decided to divert the headwaters of the Mégiscane River and the Suzie River, which flowed naturally to James Bay via the Mégiscane River, the Bell River (Quebec) and the Nottaway River; and to bring their waters to the Saint Lawrence River by the Saint-Maurice River. These two rivers are the Mégiscane River and the Suzie River. A series of dikes and canals were needed to divert the water from these rivers and still today; these works are unknown to the general public.
Geography
Although no paved road leads to the Gouin Reservoir, it is nevertheless accessible by several forested pathways, snowmobile trails and by air. His reservoir is a popular fishing destination with numerous commercial outfitters and private lodges along its shores. There are also a number of outfitters offering recreational tourism activities such hunting trips, fishing trips, excursions in all-terrain vehicles (ex.: snowmobiles, VTT), nautical expeditions, photographic hunting, lodging in cottages, in house-boat, in hostel (auberge)
On the north shore of the Gouin Reservoir is located the Aboriginal community of Obedjiwan, written as Opiticiwan in the Atikamekw language. This village is the only community erected on the edge of this vast expanse of artificial water. During the construction of the first La Loutre dam (the name given to the retention structure before the name Gouin that we know today), the Amerindians lived near Lake Obedjiwan which was flooded with the impoundment of the reservoir. At that time, the residents moved and rebuilt their village on the site of the current village. In addition, approximately 40 km south of the reservoir are the village of Parent and the village of Clova, both now merged with Ville La Tuque and accessible by train with Via Rail Canada.
- Superficie – 1 789 km2
- Length – 100 km
- Width – 48 km
- Altitude – 405,08 m
- Depth · Average 5 m
Source: Wikipedia.org
