McLeod River


The McLeod River is a river in west-central Alberta, Canada. It forms in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, and is a major tributary of the Athabasca River.

Course

The river begins just outside the eastern border of Jasper National Park, at the confluence of Thornton and Cheviot Creeks. These creeks are fed by the meltwater on the western slopes of Tripoli and Cheviot Mountains. The McLeod River then follows the Grave Flats Road, taking on Prospect, Whitehorse, and Cadomin Creeks before emptying into Lac des Roches, south of the town of Cadomin.
The river then snakes through the foothills, and is soon joined by four major tributaries, the Gregg, Erith, Embarrass, and Edson rivers before meeting the Athabasca River near the town of Whitecourt, Alberta.

Planned dam

Throughout the 1950s and the 1960s the Alberta Government undertook a number of planning studies that discussed diverting water from the Athabasca-Mackenzie watershed to the North and South Saskatchewan Rivers. In 1970, a preliminary engineering report on the McLeod Valley Dam was released by the provincial Department of Agriculture.
The dam was to be located northeast of Edson, Alberta, near the hamlet of Peers, Alberta. The diverted water would have been sent via a canal to Chip Lake. The report read:
The McLeod Valley Dam, as well as the larger Athabasca-to-Saskatchewan diversion scheme, was shelved in the 1970s due to rising construction costs and environmental concerns.

Tributaries

Tributaries of the McLeod River, from headwaters to the Athabasca River, include: