Canada's Prairie and Northern Waters, From Lake Athabasca to James Bay

Lake Athabasca lies on the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan and covers about 7,849 square kilometres. It is notable for the Athabasca Sand Dunes on its southern shore, and it belongs to the vast Mackenzie River drainage basin.

The Mackenzie River is Canada's longest river system, flowing roughly 1,740 kilometers from Great Slave Lake through the Northwest Territories to the Beaufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean. With its tributaries it drains the largest river basin in Canada.

The Saskatchewan River is formed by the union of its North and South branches and flows east across the prairies into Lake Winnipeg. It was a principal transportation route for fur traders and settlers across the prairie provinces.

Lake Manitoba is a large, shallow lake with a total area of 4,624 square kilometres, the 14th largest in Canada. It gives its name to the province itself, and its winds are said to produce an unusual booming sound against its limestone shores, referenced in local Indigenous tradition.

Lake of the Woods straddles the border of the United States and Canada and covers about 4,350 square kilometres. Its irregular shoreline holds an estimated fourteen thousand islands, and it is a major destination for fishing and boating in the border region.

The Nelson River drains Lake Winnipeg north into Hudson Bay, carrying the combined outflow of a vast prairie watershed. Its steep drop over a short distance makes it one of Canada's most heavily developed rivers for hydroelectric power.

The Churchill River flows east across Saskatchewan and Manitoba to Hudson Bay and was historically a key route of the fur trade.

James Bay is the southern extension of Hudson Bay, bordered by Ontario and Quebec, and covers about 68,300 square kilometres. It is named for the English navigator Thomas James, and its watershed has been extensively developed for hydroelectric power under Quebec's James Bay Project.

The Robert-Bourassa Reservoir in northern Quebec was formed as part of the James Bay hydroelectric project and has a maximum surface area of 2,835 square kilometres. It is named for the Quebec premier who championed the scheme and feeds one of the largest underground hydroelectric power stations in the world.