“Although it was wonderful
to see all that water tumbling down, it would be even more wonderful to see all
that water tumbling up.” – Mark Twain
The
blue river water of Niagara River tumbles 51 meters over the rocky cliff of
the Niagara Falls on a daily basis. Every second, more than two million liters
of water plummets over the half circle waterfall known as the Horseshoe Fall,
making it one of the world’s largest waterfalls. The force of the pounding
water is sending a cloud of mist up from the bottom of the falls; this same
force eats away at the rock behind the falls, pushing them back as much as two
meters per year.
Niagara
Falls is actually made up of three different falls, the most famous: Horseshoe Falls. The Niagara River, the narrow strait that connects
Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, forks around Goat Island, seen in the upper right hand corner of the image. The main portion of the river is pushed over the Canadian/
Horseshoe Falls, but the diverted water tumbles down the American Falls and
Bridal Veil Falls farther downstream. All three falls is what makes up the
Niagara Falls. As the names of the individual falls suggest, the river and the
falls mark the boundary between the United States and Canada. The American
Falls is 328meters wide (1075 feet), and the Horseshoe Falls, 675 meters wide
(2200 feet).
Putting
the tourist attraction of Niagara Falls into context with the surrounding
community, the energy derived from water falling over the falls with an average
total flow of 750,000 gallons (2.8 million liters) per second, actually fuels a
few power plants on the edge of the Niagara River. These power plants
downstream from the Falls generate about 4.4 million kilowatts of power for
both Ontario, Canada and New York, United States. The Niagara River forms the
U.S.- Canadian Border and allows Lake Erie to drain northwest into Lake
Ontario. Lake Ontario is actually about 100 meters lower than Lake Erie mainly
because of the elevation drop of the Falls, which helps gravitate the movement
of water. Without the Niagara Falls, the water from Lake Erie would not move
into Lake Ontario.
How
does all this relate to this city of Buffalo, New York? The port city of
Buffalo, New York is located just at the northeast corner of Lake Erie where
the river first leaves the lake. The city of Buffalo acts as the gateway of
Lake Erie in which the movement of water flows downstream from Niagara River north
through the Niagara Falls region into Lake Ontario.
- Edward L
