A Confluence of Change

Rivers are alive and changing.

This is a vintage photographic postcard of the landmark Three Bridges at the confluence of Wantastekw/West River and Kwenitekw/Connecticut River, taken just before the water level was raised 15 feet by the completion of the Vernon hydroelectric dam in 1909. Looking below the bridges, one can see the central sediment island that existed at the time, immediately upstream of the spans. This depositional island is now gone, replaced by others further up the channel or delta. What we see today is a momentary form, with Creation in continual motion - an exchange of spirit and matter.

Below, an aerial view of the confluence today - with only two of the three bridges remaining in use - showing the silt islands further west and upstream of the earlier formation.