Types of Water

St. Lawrence County Watershed

(The following overview of our watershed was provided by the NYS DEC. For more detailed information, published NYSDEC reports are also available.)

The Saint Lawrence Watershed lies at the border of New York State and Canada. The Saint Lawrence River serves as the gateway between the North Atlantic and the Great Lakes. At its most downstream point in the Unites States the Saint Lawrence drains an area of nearly 300,000 square miles. Within New York State the watershed drains the northern and western Adirondack Mountains and the lake plain region of the Saint Lawrence Valley.

Location: Northern New York State

• All of Saint Lawrence County,
• Most of Franklin County,
• Much of northern Jefferson, Lewis, Herkimer and Hamilton counties, and
• Small parts of western Essex and Clinton Counties.

Size: 5,600 square miles of land area in New York State.

Rivers and Streams: 11,371 miles of freshwater rivers and streams. Major tributary watersheds to the 185 miles of Saint Lawrence River shoreline include:

• Oswegatchie River (3,590 river/stream miles)
• Raquette River (2,016 miles)
• Saint Regis River (1,734 miles)
• Grass River (1,607 miles)
• Indian River (1,222 miles, included within the Oswegatchie watershed)

Lakes, Ponds and Reservoirs: 376 significant freshwater lakes, ponds, and reservoirs (85,723 acres), including:

• Black Lake (7,754 lake/reservoir acres)
• Cranberry Lake (6,795 acres)
• Raquette Lake (5,194 acres)
• Tupper Lake (4,858 acres)
• Long Lake (4,094 acres)

Great Lakes Shoreline: 185 miles of Great Lakes (Saint Lawrence River) shoreline.