Thames River (Ont.)

The Thames River () is located in southwestern Ontario, Canada. The Thames flows southwest for 273 kilometres (170 mi) through southwestern Ontario, from the Town of Tavistock through the cities of Woodstock, London and Chatham to Lighthouse Cove on Lake St. Clair. Its drainage basin is 5,825 square kilometres (2,249 sq mi). The river is also known as Deshkaan-ziibi / Eshkani-ziibi ("Antler River") in the Ojibwe language, spoken by Anishnaabe peoples who, along with the Neutrals prior to their disappearance in the 17th century, have lived in the area since before Europeans arrived. This name was anglicized as "Escunnisepe" as the first English name of the river. In 1793, Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe named the river after the River Thames in England. Early French Canadians referred to it as La Tranche, for the wide and muddy waters of its lower section. Much of the Thames was formerly surrounded by deciduous Carolinian forests, but much of this forest has been cleared to permit agriculture and other forms of development. Two conservation authorities together have jurisdiction over the Thames River watershed, the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority and Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority, and work to prevent damaging floods and undertake other resource management activities.