The life of the rivers – Rivière Mitis | Disused but affectionate works

All summer, The Press takes you across Quebec telling you about the life of the rivers. Human, scientific or historical stories that all have a river as their tie. This week: the planned safeguarding of almost century-old infrastructures thanks to tourism.

When Prefect Bruno Paradis observes the disused dams or the end-of-life bridge over the Mitis River, he does not only see legacies from the past. The tourist future of his corner of the country is played out in these old stones, he is convinced of it.

Its objective: to capture even a very small part of the 800,000 tourists who take Route 132 each year in the direction of Gaspésie to convince them to deviate from their trajectory, go up the river and explore the area.

The trick up its sleeve is the falls of the Mitis River, harnessed in 1922 to produce hydroelectricity. Since the tightening of security measures throughout the Hydro-Québec network some twenty years ago, they are less accessible than ever to the general public.

“The fall is still extraordinary”, boasts Mr. Paradis, through the continuous roar of the water which falls from about forty meters like a large moving curtain.

“The new generation does not know the fall”

There are “fewer and fewer” people, even locally, who have seen the fall with their own eyes, he laments. “The new generation does not know the fall, or they know it unofficially. The oldest generation knows it very well, people came to bathe […], picnic, enjoy the sun. »

Mitis-1 – located on the falls – and its neighbor Mitis-2 have not produced electricity since 2018. Given their level of dilapidation and their small size, the game was no longer worth the candle for Hydro-Québec . Together, they represented only 11 megawatts of installed power, compared to 5600 at LG2, for example.

They first served the needs of the Price sawmill, which gave its name to the local municipality. In addition to being prefect of the MRC de la Mitis, Bruno Paradis is also the mayor of Price.

“There is nothing left to turn. […] Hydro-Québec will no longer produce here,” confirmed Ariane Doucet-Michaud, of Hydro-Québec, which opened the doors of the power stations to The Press. The buildings have changed little over the decades: a kitsch Christ adorned with light bulbs, an old-fashioned industrial charm, cleverly hung tools on the walls. “We want to look with the community if we can’t bring them back to life in a different way. We are really in discussion with the MRC. »

“We know that we have a superb site with good potential. We have to find the way through,” she added.

Interest in production

Walking on the grounds of Mitis-1, Bruno Paradis describes his vision, his “utopia” as he likes to call it: a bistro at the foot of the waterfall, with a glass walkway above the water and – why not – another glazed surface that would allow you to see the plant producing hydroelectricity live.

Because if Hydro-Quebec no longer wants to operate it, the community could take over, says Bruno Paradis.

“The MRC has always had an interest,” he said. Especially since in eastern Quebec, the municipal world is already largely involved in the production of electricity, with the wind farms that mark out the territory. Recent statements by the Legault government supporting the maximization of the province’s electricity production potential also lean in this direction.

But “accessibility must be guaranteed in any project. Because beyond production, for us it is [d’abord] a project of reappropriation by Mitissiens and Mitissiennes,” said Bruno Paradis. And by tourists. Only 3 km away from Route 132, the attraction is perfectly located for a lunch break en route to Percé Rock. “We are close! »

“Creating a link between the two shores”

Hydroelectric dams are not the only obsolete structures that the MRC de la Mitis would like to transform into tourist attractions on its territory.

The Quebec government has promised to transfer the old Arthur-Bergeron bridge, which spans the river near its mouth, to make it a pedestrian and cycling link between the famous Reford Gardens and a nearby regional park. A new road bridge will be built.

“What we want is to create a link between the two shores”, so that tourists can move around without getting back in their car, explains Mr. Paradis.

At the end of May, the contractor from the Quebec Ministry of Transport was carrying out stabilization work on the structure before its handover. The Bergeron Bridge, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2030, has historical value due to its arched construction.

“We obviously want to keep the heritage aspect of this bridge. But there will be certain upgrades that will be required, because the standards of the past were not as demanding, said Jean-Philippe Langlais, from the Ministry of Transport, a few meters from the site. The appearance will remain the same. »

The book is in dire need of a makeover. Its concrete crumbles worryingly, the joints are broken, the drainage is failing. “We have exposed reinforcement,” described Annie Parent, structural engineer at the Ministry. Other major restoration works will follow.

And, with a little luck, the bridge that allowed tourists to cross the Mitis without lingering there could become the reason that will convince them to stay in the area.

Mitis in numbers

1964

This is the first year that salmon have been able to ascend the entire Mitis River to its source, thanks to human intervention. The waterfalls harnessed by hydroelectric dams have always been an impassable obstacle for fish. For more than 50 years, salmon have been captured at the foot of the falls, before being transported by truck.

51km

The Mitis has its source in the lake of the same name, before running for 51 km to empty into the St. Lawrence. In doing so, it crosses nine municipalities.

About 70,000

This is the number of visitors who visited the Reford Gardens in 2021, a record year for this important horticultural and heritage site located at the mouth of the Mitis. It was in 1926 that the owner of the premises, the wealthy philanthropist Elsie Reford, began to transform the surroundings of her second home into a veritable botanical garden.

2 nations

La Mitis could have been a meeting place between the Malecites of Bas-Saint-Laurent and the Micmacs of Chaleur Bay. By going up the river and then down the Restigouche watershed, the Aboriginals could pass from the river to the bay.