St. Croix River (Maine-New Brunswick)

Infobox River
river_name = St. Croix River

---

caption = St. Croix River at
St. Andrews, New Brunswick.
origin = Chiputneticook Lakes
mouth = Passamaquoddy Bay
basin_countries = Canada/United States
length = 102 km
elevation =
mouth_elevation = sea level
discharge =
watershed = 1,500 square miles

The St. Croix River is a river in northeastern North America, 62 miles (102 km) in length, that forms part of the Canada–United States border between Maine (U.S.) and New Brunswick (Canada).

Geography

The river rises in the Chiputneticook Lakes and flows south and southeast, between Calais and St. Stephen. It discharges into Passamaquoddy Bay, in the Bay of Fundy.

The total drainage area of the river is approximately 1,500 square miles. In the 20th century, the river was heavily developed for hydroelectric power. The river had previously hosted a large population of Atlantic salmon, however, the salmon population was reduced after building hydroelectric dams upriver from Calais-St. Stephen.

The river is an estuary between Calais-St. Stephen and the river's mouth at Robbinston and St. Andrews. This tidal area extends for approximately 25 kilometres (15 miles) along this section and exhibits a tidal bore.

Water level monitoring

Canada

The Water Survey of Canada maintains six river flow gauges in the St. Croix River watershed:

* St. Croix, New Brunswick (coord|45.5689|N|67.4297|W)
* Baring, New Brunswick (coord|45.1367|N|67.3181|W)
* Dennis Stream near St. Stephen, New Brunswick (coord|45.2097|N|67.2625|W
* Grand Lake at Forest City, New Brunswick (coord|45.6650|N|67.7361|W)
* Spednic Lake at St. Croix, New Brunswick (coord|45.5692|N|67.4281|W)
* Forest City Stream, below the Forest City Dam at Forest City, New Brunswick (coord|45.6642|N|67.7344|W)

United States

The United States Geological Survey maintains two river flow gages in the St. Croix River watershed.

* Vanceboro, Maine (coord|45|34|08|N|67|25|47|W|) where the rivershed is 413 square miles, 400 feet downstream from the Spednik Lake Dam.

* Baring Plantation, Maine (coord|45|34|08|N|67|25|47|W|) where the rivershed is 1,374 square miles, 5.6 miles downstream of the nearest dam. The maximum recorded flow here is 23,500 cubic feet per second and the minimum 262 cubic feet per second.

USGS also maintains a water chemistry monitor at Milltown, Maine (coord|45|10|11|N|67|17|50|W|) where the rivershed is 1,455 square miles. For water year 2001, the pH ranged from 6.6 to 7.2. [cite web | author=G.J. Stewart, J.P. Nielsen, J.M. Caldwell, A.R. Cloutier | year=2002| title=Water Resources Data - Maine, Water Year 2001 | format=PDF | work=Water Resources Data - Maine, Water Year 2001 | url=http://me.water.usgs.gov/Maine01adr.pdf | accessdate=2006-05-07]

Crossings

Seven active international bridges cross the river at the following locations:

* St. Croix, New Brunswick-Vanceboro, Maine (Saint Croix-Vanceboro Bridge, road
* St. Croix-Vanceboro (New Brunswick Southern Railway), rail
* Mohannes, New Brunswick-Woodland, Maine (Maine Central Railroad), rail
* Upper Mills, New Brunswick-Baring, Maine (Maine Central Railroad), rail
* Milltown, New Brunswick-Calais, Maine (Milltown International Bridge), road
* Milltown, New Brunswick-Calais, Maine (New Brunswick Southern Railway/Maine Central Railroad), rail
* St. Stephen, New Brunswick-Calais, Maine (St. Stephen-Calais Bridge), road

One defunct crossing exists:
* St. Stephen, New Brunswick-Calais, Maine, ferry (at site of St. Stephen-Calais Bridge

One future crossing is scheduled to be constructed:
* Milltown, New Brunswick-Calais, Maine, road (scheduled for 2008-2010)

ee also

*List of Maine rivers
*List of New Brunswick rivers

References

External links

* [http://www.chrs.ca/Rivers/StCroix/StCroix_e.htm Canadian Heritage River System] St. Croix River
* [http://www.mainerivers.org/st.croix.htm MaineRivers.org] St. Croix watershed.
* [http://www.lighthouse.cc/stcroix/ St. Croix River Light]
* [http://saintcroixisland.areaparks.com/ St. Croix Island International Historic Site]
*Real time water conditions - flow at [http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=01018500 Vanceboro] or [http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=01021000 Baring] , Maine.