The McLeod River originates from a northward basin between Tripoli Ridge and the Cardinal Divide,[2] a watershed divide that separates water that eventually drains north into the Arctic Ocean and east into Hudson Bay.

[3] Headwater tributaries of the McLeod River flowing from the eastern slope of the Rockies include Thornton, Prospect, Whitehorse, Cadomin, and Luscar Creeks.

[5] Throughout the 1950s and the 1960s the Alberta Government undertook a number of planning studies that discussed diverting water from the Athabasca-Mackenzie watershed to the North and South Saskatchewan Rivers.

In 1970, a preliminary engineering report on the McLeod Valley Dam was released by the provincial Department of Agriculture.

The report read: The McLeod Valley Dam, as well as the larger Athabasca-to-Saskatchewan diversion scheme, was shelved in the 1970s due to rising construction costs and environmental concerns.