Richelieu River - Geography and Hydrography

Geography and Hydrography

The Richelieu is 171 km (106 mi) long, flowing from the north end of Lake Champlain to the confluence with the Saint Lawrence River at Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, downstream and northeast of Montréal. It has a drainage basin of 23,400 square kilometres (9,000 sq mi), of which 19,600 km2 (7,600 sq mi) are in the United States, originating in the western slopes of the Green Mountains and the eastern slopes of the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. Its mean discharge is 330 cubic metres per second (12,000 cu ft/s).

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Chambly, Beloeil, Mont-Saint-Hilaire, and Sorel-Tracy are important communities on its route.