Yamaska River


The Yamaska River is a river in southern Quebec, Canada.
Sourcing water within the Eastern Townships, it ends its journey in Lake Saint-Pierre where it is a tributary to the Saint Lawrence River; altogether it is long. Crossing nearly twenty municipalities in its course, it is intrinsically linked to life around it as it is a primary source of fresh water where it passes; due to human use and adaptation, the river and its banks have become heavily altered over time, beginning around the time the first European settlers arrived to modern days.
Before exploitation, the river was rich with life. Urban, industrial, and intensive agricultural use have made it one of the most polluted rivers in Quebec, especially from agricultural waste and pesticides; nevertheless, many municipalities use it as their source for drinking water. Although the number of species of living organisms has greatly decreased, a tenacious ecosystem still thrives along many parts of the Yamaska, some efforts are made by the citizens of various municipalities to alter human impact on the environments that connect to the stream. The Yamaska is used for recreational activities such as fishing and many navigate its waters, though it is not used for swimming.
For many years the pollution issue has spawned environmental concern in places such as Granby, where citizens, environmental experts, municipal councilors, as well as groups and organizations work on conservation, study, inventory, and communication of ways to change an individual's impact on the river's health. These actions have led to the increase of community art and events aiming to speak for those who cannot, mainly animals and plants.

Toponymy

The name Yamaska appeared in the 17th century, beforehand it was named "Rivière de Gennes" by Samuel de Champlain in 1609. When the lands known as seigneurie de Yamaska were granted to Michel Leneuf de La Vallière, the river's name was instead "rivière des Savanes". The word "Yamaska" could be sourced to Abenakis meaning "there are rushes off the coast" or "there is much hay", from yam or iyamitaw, respectively meaning off shore and much, and askaw, meaning hay or rushes. This Amerindian name references baie de Lavalilière, at the river's mouth where vegetation grows abundantly in a marsh. The name could also be from Algonquian hia muskeg, it means "river of the savannas" or "river with muddy waters". Because of the nebulous Amerindian origin, this naming has been deformed. It was officially named Rivière Yamaska 5 December 1968.

Geography

Hydrography

The drainage basin of the Yamaska measures 4 784 km2; its average debit at the end is of 87 m2/s, this is considered relatively slow compared to Richelieu and Saint-François rivers, the nearest streams; it is however subject to seasonal fluctuations in the spring and in the fall, and minimums of 0.9 m2/s in winter and summer.
There are few bodies of water in the Yamaska's basin, only six are larger than one square kilometer, of these only three are natural: Brome, Roxton, and Waterloo lakes.

River's Course

Starting at an altitude of 193 m north of lac Brome, it flows westward until it reaches Farnham; this section is at the feet of the Appalachian Mountains, it receives two tributaries: North Yamaska River passing through Granby, and rivière Yamaska Sud-Ouest draining Cowansville. After what it turns northward and enters the basses-terres du Saint-Laurent and meets its main tributary Rivière Noire at Saint-Damase, passing through its biggest agglomeration, Saint-Hyacinthe; it continues towards its mouth at Lake Saint Pierre, West of Saint François Bay.

Tributaries

Among its main tributaries are Noire, South-East Yamaska, and North Yamaska rivers.
River sub-basinLeft or right tributary
Sub-basin surface area
Sub-basin under cultivation
Yamaskan/a175957.7
Yamaska Nordright30328.2
Yamaska Sud-Estleft41122.5
Noireright157142.7
Salvailleft20653.7
Davidright32659.8
Pot au Beurreleft20845.8

Left tributaries (West Shore)

A varied fauna and flora exists along the Yamaska, reflecting the various regions it traverses; species of birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, crustaceans, insect, fungi, lichen, algae and many more populate its waters, banks, and surrounding marshes. Pollution has greatly affected the nature that used to thrive in and around the river, reducing the number of species of fish from 70 to 33 between 1963 and 2003; to counter this the Quebec government proceeds to implement fish in the river to increase fishing as a sport.
The main fish cruising its waters are white sucker and Cyprinidae; more polluted areas are occupied by brown bullhead. Species sought after for fishing include muskellunge, Esox, black bass, Sander, yellow perch, pumpkinseed and mud cat. Over the years the species added to the river for increase sport are the brown trout, rainbow trout, muskellunge, Sander, yellow perch, brown bullhead, smallmouth bass, and brook trout.
Inventories carried at Mont Yamaska allowed to observe over fifteen species of amphibians and even reptiles and Common Garter Snake ). Common amphibians inventoried in the river are the dusky salamander, wood frog, and the green frog. The Baie Lavalilière, located near the mouth of the river, is considered a very rich habitat for amphibians, although poaching of bullfrog, northern leopard frog, and green frog limit their population.

Citizen Collective Art Movement

11 May 2013 saw the inauguration of two collective artworks "URGENCE YAMASKA" and "LA YAMASKA, C'EST NOUS...", during the community art project Art-Yamaska; the art is said to be issue of a collective reflection about the river's health and depicts several clear environmental messages. The project aims education of ecological awareness linked to the Yamaska's health. Along with the artwork's public exposition on Granby's water pumping station, the project included poetry reading, a photography exposition, and several mural and mosaic workshops, culminating in festivities on the river's celebration day in 2013. Since their installment, the collective murals have gained much renown and visibility due to their location just off a popular cycling network.
In May 2015, a new artful message followed in the Art-Yamaska project with the creation of "Qu'es-tu devenu Yamaska?" a few kilometers downstream the same cycling track as the previous mural. Once more, workshops were organized by the art and creativity non-profit organization Atelier 19 to allow a group of youth to invent an environmental message to be posted underneath and on the sides of Patrick-Hackett bridge; the place is famous for its vandalism in the form of graffiti art, the message is thus expressed conjointly and with inspiration from that art movement.