Fond du Lac River (Saskatchewan)


The Fond du Lac River is one of the upper branches of the Mackenzie River system, draining into the Arctic Ocean, located in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. The river is long, has a watershed of, and its mean discharge is.

Hydrology

The river begins at an elevation of at Cunning Bay on Wollaston Lake. It flows north to Hatchet Lake at an elevation of and continues to Waterfound Bay at an elevation of, where the tributary Waterfound River enters from the left. The river continues north to Kosdaw Lake at an elevation of, over the Redbank Falls to Otter Lake, the Manitou Falls, the Brink Rapids and the Brassy Rapids, before the Hawkrock River enters from the left. It continues over the Hawkrock Rapids and the North Rapids and takes in the Perch River from the right. The Fond du Lac River flows further over the Perch Rapids, takes in the Porcupine River from the right, travels over the Burr Falls, and enters Black Lake at an elevation of.
Several tributaries enter at Black Lake: from the right, the Chipman River and the Souter River; and from the left, the Cree River.
The river leaves the lake on the northwest side near the community of Black Lake, travels over the Elizabeth Falls and the Woodcock Rapids, flows past the community of Stony Rapids, and reaches its mouth at Lake Athabasca.

Fish species

The river also supports a number of fish species. These include walleye, yellow perch, northern pike, lake trout, Arctic grayling, lake whitefish, cisco, white sucker, longnose sucker and burbot.