Lake Winnipeg - Watershed

Watershed

The lake's watershed measures about 984,200 square kilometres (380,000 sq mi), and covers much of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, northwestern Ontario, Minnesota, and North Dakota. Its tributaries include:

• Saskatchewan River (through Cedar Lake)
• Red River (including Assiniboine River)
• Winnipeg River (draining Lake of the Woods, Rainy River and Rainy Lake)
• Dauphin River, (draining Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipegosis)
• Bloodvein River (on the East side, draining from the Canadian Shield)
• Poplar River
• Manigotagan River

Lake Winnipeg drains northward into the Nelson River at an average annual rate of 2,066 cubic metres per second (72,960 cu ft/s), and forms part of the Hudson Bay watershed, which is one of the largest in the world. This watershed area was historically known as Rupert's Land when the Hudson's Bay Company was chartered in 1670.