Talk:Rivière des Prairies

Not St-Lawrence
The Rivière des Prairies is not a channel of the St-Lawrence River.

In 1990 I was an engineering student and had a summer job with Environment Canada helping measure streamflows in rivers around Montreal, including the Rivière des Prairies.

Hydrologically, the river is a branch of the Ottawa River, which flows into Lac des Deux-Montagnes, which is really just a widening of the Ottawa River. Below the Lac des Deux-Montagnes, the Ottawa river splits into five distinct channels. From West to East, those channels are:

1) The main channel of the Ottawa river, which flows West of Ile Perrot, separating it from the mainland; 2) The Ste-Anne channel of the Ottawa river, which flows between Ile Perrot and the Island of Montreal; 3) The main channel of the Rivière des Prairies, which flows between Ile Bizard and the Island of Montreal; 4) The Rapide Lalement branch of the Rivière des Prairies, which flows between Ile Bizard and Ile Jésus (the name of the island upon which the city of Laval is located); 5) The rivière des Milles-Iles, which flows North of Ile-Jésus, separating it from the mainland.

Both the main and St-Anne channels of the Ottawa River flow into Lac St-Louis, which is really a widening of the St-Lawrence River. The two channels of the Rivière des Prairies meet East of Ile-Bizard and from then on the river separates Ile-Jesus from the Island of Montreal. The Mille-Iles river flows into the Rivière des Prairies just before that river flows into the St-Lawrence.

Alex Plante, P. Eng.

Swimming
On Dec 11, 2008 this IP edit (with no summary) http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rivi%C3%A8re_des_Prairies&diff=257358689&oldid=252194171 changed the article to indicate that Riviere des Prairies was now considered suitable for swimming. I don't know if it was vandalism that escaped notice for 3 years, or a well-intentioned mistake, but recent water testing data and media reports clearly show that parts of the river are not suitable for swimming (Bad or even Polluted). For examples see: RSMA and West Island Chronicle. I'm changing the article to say that parts of it are not suitable for swimming. If any one knows of an officialstand on swimming in the river please add it. Meters (talk) 03:01, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
 * I discovered from an archived news paper article there used to be 29 beaches on the island of Montreal. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UBQyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3qEFAAAAIBAJ&dq=29-swimming-areas&pg=1726%2C3442309 . The places discovered today on the RSMA to have sewage may be from people who lay their own feces on the shoreline. I visit RDP 200 parc Paquin and have found human feces on the shoreline. Why is it human? Used tissue paper is along side it. There are no outhouses for people when they visit the shoreline. Guess what happens? Besides feces from dog owners who do not pick up after their dog.--Mark v1.0 (talk) 18:26, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
 * RSMA https://www.rsma.qc.ca/rsmaweb/rsmaqrc.asp tests the water during the warmer times of the year and YES most places pass the feces test. The one place that has been polluted (24/7/12 months) since the year 1970 is Parc de la Rive-Boisée. I have seen people (in ignorance) swimming near Parc de la Rive-Boisée where there is a new high rise Condo and boat dock.--Mark v1.0 (talk) 05:32, 28 February 2022 (UTC)

Back River
This is called the Back River in English, as referenced in the names of different sites like the Back River Cemetery and old maps. 24.114.85.235 (talk) 18:59, 25 March 2022 (UTC)