The Kenogami River is a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 in the James Bay

James Bay

James Bay is a large body of water on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean. James Bay borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario; islands within the bay are part of Nunavut...

 drainage basin

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 in Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay District

Thunder Bay District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The district seat is Thunder Bay....

 and Cochrane districts in Northern

Northern Ontario

Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...

 Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, which flows north from Long Lake near Longlac to empty into the Albany River

Albany River

The Albany River is a river in Northern Ontario, Canada, which flows northeast from Lake St. Joseph in Northwestern Ontario and empties into James Bay. It is long to the head of the Cat River, tying it with the Severn River for the title of longest river in Ontario...

. The river is 320 kilometres (199 mi) in length and its name means "long water" in the Cree language

Cree language

Cree is an Algonquian language spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories and Alberta to Labrador, making it the aboriginal language with the highest number of speakers in Canada. It is also spoken in the U.S. state of Montana...

. A portion of the river's headwaters have been diverted into the Lake Superior

Lake Superior

Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...

 drainage basin.

Course

For a map showing the river course, see this reference.

The river begins at Longlac Bay on Long Lake at the community of Longlac, part of the municipality of Greenstone

Greenstone, Ontario

Greenstone is an amalgamated town in the Canadian province of Ontario. The area of the town is , stretching along Highway 11 from Lake Nipigon to Longlac; it is one of the largest incorporated towns in Canada....

, Thunder Bay District. It passes under Ontario Highway 11 and the Canadian National Railway

Canadian National Railway

The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....

 (CNR) transcontinental

Transcontinental railroad

A transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...

 main line

Main line (railway)

The Mainline or Main line of a railway is a track that is used for through trains or is the principal artery of the system from which branch lines, yards, sidings and spurs are connected....

 (used at this point by Via Rail

VIA Rail

Via Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....

 transcontinental Canadian trains) into geographic Bain Township in Unorganized Thunder Bay District, takes in the left tributaries Kenogamisis River and Burrows River, and reaches the Kenogami Lake Dam. It continues northeast, takes in the left tributary Kawakanika River, reaches Chipman Lake, passes into Cochrane District at geographic Chipman Township, takes in the right tributaries Fernow River and Wabigano River, heads under a CNR line abandoned in 1986 (originally the National Transcontinental Railway

National Transcontinental Railway

The National Transcontinental Railway was a historic Canadian railway between Winnipeg and Moncton. Much of the line is now operated by the Canadian National Railway.-The Grand Trunk partnership:...

 transcontinental main line) between the railway points Ogahalla

Ogahalla, Ontario

Ogahalla is an unincorporated place and railway point in geographic Barlow Township in the Unorganized North Part of Cochrane District in northeastern Ontario, Canada....

 to the west and Blanche

Blanche, Ontario

Blanche is an unincorporated place and railway point in geographic Selwyn Township in the Unorganized North Part of Cochrane District in northeastern Ontario, Canada....

 to the east, and reaches the confluence with the left tributary Atikasibi River. The river continues northeast, takes in the Mundino River (left), Flint River (right), Watistiguam River (left) and Nemasa River (left), the last at Loon Island, the right tributary Pagwachuan River, and then, within two kilometres, the right tributaries Nagagami River and Kabinakagami River

Kabinakagami River

The Kabinakagami River is a river in Cochrane and Algoma Districts in northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is part of the James Bay drainage basin and is a right tributary of the Kenogami River.-Course:For a map showing the river course, see this reference....

, the latter at the unincorporated place and community of Mammamattawa

Mammamattawa, Ontario

Mammamattawa is an unincorporated place and community in the Unorganized North Part of Cochrane District in northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Kenogami River with the Kabinakagami River, and just 2 kilometres downstream of the mouth of the Nagagami River, in the...

, site of the abandoned Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson's Bay Company

The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...

 English River Post trading post. It turns north, passes the English River 66 First Nations Reserve (part of the Constance Lake First Nation

Constance Lake First Nation

Constance Lake First Nation is an Oji-Cree First Nation in Cochrane District in northeastern Ontario, Canada, directly north of the community of Calstock along a continuation of Ontario Highway 663...

 lands), takes in the left tributaries Little Ash River, Ash River and Kingfisher River, the right tributary Wakashi River, the left tributaries Little Drowning River, Drowning River and Little Current River, and reaches its mouth at The Albany Forks on the Albany River, which flows to James Bay.

History

The first inland post of the Hudson's Bay Company, named Henley House, was established at the confluence of the Kenogami River and Albany River in 1743. A new post was established in 1884 at the confluence of the Kenogami River and the Kabinakagami River. It was known as the English River Post, as the Kenogami was also known as the English River.

Long Lake Diversion Project

In 1937-38, the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, now Ontario Power Generation

Ontario Power Generation

Ontario Power Generation is a public company wholly owned by the Government of Ontario. OPG is responsible for approximately 70% of the electricity generation in the Province of Ontario, Canada. Sources of electricity include nuclear, hydroelectric, solar, wind, and fossil fuel...

, built the Kenogami Lake Dam (49°55′03"N 86°29′ 20"W) and Long Lake Diversion Dam to divert this river's headwaters

Source (river or stream)

The source or headwaters of a river or stream is the place from which the water in the river or stream originates.-Definition:There is no universally agreed upon definition for determining a stream's source...

 to empty through Long Lake and the Aguasabon River

Aguasabon River

The Aguasabon River is a river in Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. The river originates at Chorus Lake and empties into Lake Superior near the community of Terrace Bay.The Aguasabon is in length, and plunges down at the Aguasabon Falls...

 into Lake Superior. The former backed up the headwaters, while the latter controlled the outflow into the Aguasabon River. The diversion has shifted an average flow of 1377 cubic feet (39 m³) per second from a drainage basin of almost 4400 square kilometres (1,699 sq mi) from James Bay to the Great Lakes Basin

Great Lakes Basin

The Great Lakes Basin consists of the Great Lakes and the surrounding lands of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in the United States, and the province of Ontario in Canada, whose direct surface runoff and watersheds form a large...

. Initially, the diversion supported forestry development and hydroelectric development further downstream on the Great Lakes at Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls, Ontario

Niagara Falls is a Canadian city on the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. The municipality was incorporated on June 12, 1903...

; no hydroelectric development on the watercourses on the diversion project was practical intitially. A further stage was completed in 1948 when the Hayes Lake Dam (for water control) and Aguasabon Generating Station (for hydroelectricity), the former just upstream of the latter and the latter just upstream of the mouth of the Aguasabon River at Lake Superior, to support a pulp and paper mill at the adjacent town of Terrace Bay.

Tributaries

• Little Current River (left)
• Drowning River (left)
• Little Drowning River (left)
• Wakashi River (right)
• Kingfisher River (left)
• Ash River (left)
• Little Ash River (left)
• Kabinakagami River (right)
• Nagagami River (right)
• Pagwachuan River (right)
• Nemasa River (left)
• Watistiguam River (left)
• Flint River (right)
• Mundino River (left)
• Atikasibi River (left)
• North Barlow Creek (right)
• Wabigano River (right)
• Fernow River (right)
• Chipman Lake
  • Jobrin Creek (left)
  • Pardee Creek (right)
• Kawakanika River (left)
• Burrows River (left)
• Kenogamisis River (left)
• Blueberry Creek (right)
• Isis Creek (left)