Parsnip River
{{Short description|River in Canada}}
{{Infobox river
|mouth_coordinates={{coord|55|10|26|N|123|04|20|W|}}
|source1_location=Mount Vreeland
|tributaries_right=
|tributaries_left=
|bridges=
|basin_size=559,659 ha
|Watershed Area=
|length=240 km
|mouth_location=Williston Lake
|source1_coordinates={{coord|54|32|22|N|121|32|22|W|}}
|subdivision_type1=Country
|subdivision_name1=Canada
|subdivision_type2=Province
|subdivision_name2=British Columbia
|subdivision_type3=Regional District
|subdivision_name3=Fraser Fort-George
|subdivision_type4=Land District
|subdivision_name4=Cariboo Land District
|landmark=
}}
The Parsnip River is a {{convert|240|km|mi|adj=on}} long river in central British Columbia, Canada. It flows generally north-westward from the Parsnip Glacier in the Hart Ranges to the Parsnip Reach of Williston Lake,{{BCGNIS|23036|Williston Lake}} formed by the impounding of the waters of the Peace River by the W.A.C. Bennett Dam in 1968. Prior to that, the Parsnip joined with the Finlay River to form the Peace at Finlay Forks, with both sharing an alignment along the Rocky Mountain Trench.
Name origin
The river's name derives from the abundance of cow-parsnip (Heracleum lanatum), also known as Indian rhubarb, which grows along its banks.{{BCGNIS|16046|Parsnip River}}
History
The Parsnip is of historical significance as forming part of the route Alexander MacKenzie took in his epic journey to the Pacific Ocean in 1793.
Fish populations and their protozoan and metazoan parasites in the headwater areas of the McGregor River (Pacific drainage) and of the Parsnip River (Arctic drainage) were the subject of studies carried out in the 1970s concerning the proposed diversion of waters across the continental divide. Three parasites (Ceratomyxa shasta, Cryptobia salmositica, and Haemogregarina irkalukpiki) were identified as posing the greatest threat to the fisheries resources of the immediate area and also to the downstream areas. Based in part on these studies, the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, in a public announcement, suspended engineering studies of the proposed diversion.
Tributaries
See also
References
{{reflist}}
Hisao P. Arai and Dwight R. Mudry. 1983. Protozoan and Metazoan Parasites of Fishes from the Headwaters of the Parsnip and McGregor Rivers, British Columbia: A Study of Possible Parasite Transfaunation. Canadian. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 40(10): 1676–1684 (1983)
{{coord|55|10|00|N|123|03|00|W|display=title}}
{{British Columbia hydrography}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Rivers of the Canadian Rockies
Category:Northern Interior of British Columbia