Churchill Falls

Churchill Falls was, prior to 1970, the third most powerful waterfall on the North American continent after Niagara and Virginia Falls. The Churchill River, naturally draining an area of 23,000 square miles would regularly produce a volume of roughly 35,000 cubic feet of water per second flowing over the 245 foot falls and coursing down the impressive chiseled gash of MacLean Canyon. In 1965 the construction of the Churchill Falls hydroelectric project commenced, which would become the second largest hydro project in North America by total generating capacity. The project dammed and diverted the Churchill River upstream of the falls, channeling the entire volume into the penstocks and left the falls almost completely dry. There are no scheduled release flows but leakage from the spillways and natural run off between the dam and the falls allows a comparatively very small volume of water to still flow over the once powerful cataract. The tailrace of the hydro project has a maximum capacity of 49,000 cubic feet per second, so when and if the river's volume exceeds that level, the falls may regain some of their former splendor - periods of such flow are, however, quite rare.Churchill Falls was first discovered by Europeans in 1839, seen by John MacLean for whom the canyon downstream of the falls is now named. The river was then known as the Hamilton River, for the governor of Newfoundland Sir Charles Hamilton. The falls were originally called Grand Falls, however in 1965 both the falls and river were renamed after British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.