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The Kootenay River - US List

The Kootenay River (spelled Kootenai River for its American portions) is the uppermost major tributary of the Columbia River, flowing through British Columbia, Montana and Idaho. It is one of the few rivers in North America which begins in Canada, enters the United States and then reenters Canada.
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The Kootenay originates in the Rocky Mountains of eastern British Columbia, and initially flows south through Kootenay National Park, merging into the Rocky Mountain Trench near Canal Flats, British Columbia (here it passes within a kilometer of Columbia Lake, the headwaters of the Columbia). It continues southwards along the Trench towards the United States border, and at Wardner, British Columbia, it widens into the Lake Koocanusa reservoir created by the Libby Dam near Libby, Montana. Koocanausa spans the Canada-U.S. border; below the dam the river resumes (using the Kootenai spelling), veers westwards out of the Rocky Mountain Trench, collects the tributary Fisher River, Yaak River, and Moyie River, crosses into Idaho, passes through Bonners Ferry, then turns northwards again. It re-enters Canada south of Creston, British Columbia, and widens into Kootenay Lake. At Nelson, British Columbia the Kootenay becomes a river again, now flowing southwest towards Castlegar, where it joins the Columbia River.

The Kootenay River is 780 kilometres (485 mi) long. Its drainage basin is 50,200 square kilometres (19,400 sq mi) large, of which 37,700 square kilometres (14,600 sq mi) are in Canada and 12,600 square kilometres (4,860 sq mi) are in the United States.[2]

The river is a Class I water from the Libby Dam downstream to the Idaho border for the purposes of public access for recreational purposes[4].

[edit] History

The Kootenay River is named for the indigenous Kootenai people. In written records from the early 19th century the Kootenai people were sometimes called the Flatbows, and the river called the Flatbow River. David Thompson traveled down the river in 1808 as part of his effort to establish a fur trading district in the Columbia River system. In 1809 Thompson named the river McGillivray’s River, in honor of Duncan McGillivray and William McGillivray, partners of the North West Company who had strongly supported Thompson’s work.[5][6]

In the 1970s, it was proposed that the Kootenay River be diverted into the Columbia River (the two rivers are separated by a distance of no more than one mile in the Rocky Mountain Trench in southeastern British Columbia). This would allow for the generation of increased hydroelectric power. The proposal was strongly opposed by both environmentalists as well as local residents. The economy of southeastern British Columbia is strongly dependent on tourism, with the Columbia River, including Columbia Lake and Windermere Lake, being very popular for summer swimming and boating activities. Diversion of the glacier-fed Kootenay River would have resulted in the Columbia River becoming much deeper and colder, flooding lake-side residences and damaging tourism. As a result, this proposed river diversion was never undertaken

Pend Oreille River - US List

The Pend Oreille is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately 130 miles (209 km) long, in northern Idaho and northeastern Washington in the United States, as well as southeastern British Columbia in Canada. In its passage through British Columbia its name is spelled Pend d’Oreille River. It drains a scenic area of the Rocky Mountains along the U.S.-Canada border on the east side of the Columbia. The river is sometimes defined as the lower part of the Clark Fork, which rises in western Montana. The river drains an area of 66,800 square kilometres (25,792 sq mi),[2] mostly through the Clark Fork and its tributaries in western Montana and including a portion of the Flathead River in southeastern British Columbia. The full drainage basin of the river and its tributaries accounts for 43% of the entire Columbia River Basin.[8]
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* 1 Course
* 2 Dams
* 3 Names
* 4 References

[edit] Course

The Pend Oreille River begins at Lake Pend Oreille in Bonner County, Idaho in the Idaho Panhandle, draining the lake from its western end near Sandpoint (The Clark Fork River enters the lake from its eastern end). It flows west, receiving the Priest River from the north at the town of Priest River, then flows into southern Pend Oreille County in northeastern Washington at Newport. Once in Washington it turns north, flowing along the eastern side of the Selkirk Mountains. It flows roughly parallel to the Idaho border for approximately 50 miles (80 km), through the Colville National Forest, past Tiger and Metaline Falls. It crosses the international border into southeastern British Columbia, looping west for about 15 miles (24 km) and joining the Columbia from the east, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the international border and approximately 5 miles (8 km) south of Montrose.

[edit] Dams

There are five dams on the Pend Oreille River: Waneta (owned by Teck Cominco) and Seven Mile (B.C. Hydro) dams in Canada, Boundary (Seattle City Light), Box Canyon (Pend Oreille County PUD), and Albeni Falls (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) dams in the United States. None provide for fish passage.

Variant names, according to the USGS, include: Bitter Root River, Bitterroot River, Clark Fork, Clarke Fork, Clarkes Fork, Clarks Fork, Deer Lodge River, Hell Gate River, Missoula River, Pend d’Oreille River, Silver Bow River, Clark’s Fork, and Pend-d’Oreille River.

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Kettle River - US List

Kettle river is a 175-mile (282 km) tributary of the Columbia River in northeastern Washington in the United States and southeastern British Columbia in Canada. Its drainage basin is 4,200 square miles (11,000 km2) large, of which 3,177 square miles (8,230 km2) are in Canada and 1,023 square miles (2,650 km2) in the United States.[2]
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From its source in the Monashee Mountains of British Columbia, the Kettle River flows south to Midway, British Columbia. Along the way it is joined by many tributaries, most notably the West Kettle River. Below Midway, the river loops south into the United States, through Ferry County, Washington, before flowing north back into Canada, passing by Grand Forks, British Columbia where the Granby River joins. After flowing east for about 10 miles (16 km), the river turns south, entering the United States again. It then flows south, joining the Columbia River near Kettle Falls, Washington. The Columbia River at this point is a large reservoir impounded behind Grand Coulee Dam, called Lake Roosevelt. The Kettle enters the lake at the Columbia’s river mile 706.[2]

[edit] Natural history

The Kettle River once supported salmon and other anadromous fish. The construction of Grand Coulee Dam, along with Chief Joseph Dam, blocked fish migration up the Columbia and its upper tributaries, including the Kettle River. In addition, Grand Coulee Dam’s reservoir, FDR Lake, flooded traditional fishery sites, including Kettle Falls near the mouth of the Kettle River

Okanogan River - US List

The Okanogan River (called the Okanagan River in Canada) is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately 115 mi (185 km) long, in southern British Columbia in Canada and north central Washington in the United States. It drains a scenic plateau region called the Okanagan Country east of the Cascade Range and north and west of the Columbia, and also the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia - which is also known as the Okanagan Country, but more usually as “the Okanagan”.
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The Okanogan River rises in southern British Columbia (where it is known as the Okanagan River), issuing out of the southern end of Okanagan Lake, which is on the north side of the city of Penticton, British Columbia. It flows south past Penticton, through Skaha Lake, past Okanagan Falls, through Vaseux Lake, and past Oliver to Osoyoos and Osoyoos Lake, which spans the international border and has its outlet into the Okanogan River at Oroville, on the south end of the lake, in Okanogan County. At the border the river’s name (and the region and also the name of the Okanagan Highland) changes spelling from Okanagan to Okanogan. Average annual flow of the river at this point is 643 cfs.[8]

From Oroville the Okanogan River flows south through the Okanogan County, past Okanogan and Omak. It forms the western boundary of the Colville Indian Reservation. The Okanogan River enters the Columbia River from the north, 5 miles (8 km) east of Brewster, between the Wells Dam (downstream) and the Chief Joseph Dam (upstream). The reservoir behind Wells Dam, into which the Okanagan empties, is called Lake Pateros.

[edit] Tributaries

The Okanogan River receives the Similkameen River from the west near Oroville. It receives Omak Creek from the east near Omak, Tonasket Creek from the east near Oroville and Bonaparte Creek at Tonasket which flows from Bonaparte Lake near Wauconda and also from Aeneas Valley west of the San Poil. It occasionally receives water from Salmon Creek at the town of Okanogan but much of the year this water is diverted for irrigation.

Columbia River - US List

The Columbia River (known as Wimahl or Big River to the Chinook-speaking natives who live on its lowermost reaches)[8] is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It is named after the Columbia Rediviva, the first ship from the western world known to have traveled up the river. It stretches from the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) through the U.S. state of Washington, forming much of the border between Washington and Oregon before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. The river is 1,243 miles (2,000 km) long, and its drainage basin is 258,000 square miles (670,000 km2).

Measured by the volume of its flow, the Columbia is the largest river flowing into the Pacific from North America and is the fourth-largest river in the U.S. The river’s heavy flow, and its large elevation drop over a relatively short distance, give it tremendous potential for the generation of electricity. It is the largest hydroelectric power producing river in North America with fourteen hydroelectric dams in the U.S. and Canada, and many more on various tributaries.

The Columbia and its tributaries are home to numerous anadromous fish, which migrate between fresh water streams and the Pacific Ocean. These fish—especially the various species of salmon—have been a vital part of the river’s ecology and the local economy for thousands of years.

The development of the river for human use, and the industrial waste that resulted in some cases, have come into conflict with ecological conservation numerous times since Americans and Europeans began to settle the area in the 18th century. The taming, or harnessing—two terms commonly used in the early 20th century to describe the development of the rivers of the American west—included dredging for navigation by larger ships, nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons research and production, and the construction of dams for power generation, irrigation, navigation, and flood control.

Alsek River - US List

It starts at the confluence of the Dezadeash and Kaskawulsh rivers in Kluane National Park and Reserve. After flowing south into the northwestern tip of British Columbia, it is joined by the Tatshenshini River in Tatshenshini-Alsek Park. It reaches the Pacific Ocean at Dry Bay, in the Gulf of Alaska, south of Yakutat, Alaska close to the northern end of the Alaska Panhandle. Although the river is navigable by kayak or rubber raft in its northern reaches, it rapidly becomes unnavigable—for any but the most experienced and skilled kayakers—at Turnback Canyon.

On older maps, the Alsek river is labeled as the Tatshenshini and vice versa. Some Yukon First Nation elders also refer to the river as the Tatshenshini.

The river flows next to the Lowell glacier which blocked off the river from 1725 to 1850 and created a large lake behind it. When the glacier broke in 1850, it created a massive flood, washing away everything in its path on the way to the Pacific.

The river carries a lot of silt from the Alsek lake/glacier, which contributes to the rivers low temperature.

The Alsek and nearby East Alsek rivers were at one time connected, and the old river bed can still be made out on some maps.

The Alsek glacier contacts the Grand Plateau glacier, which faces the shoreline. Also in the same general area are the Doame foothills and Doame river.

[edit] History

The first known kayak descent of Turnback Canyon was by Dr. Walt Blackadar, who ran the canyon solo on August 25, 1971. He wrote about his trip for Sports Illustrated. “This has been a day!,” he wrote in his journal. “I want any other kayaker or would-be expert to read my words well. The Alsek Gorge is unpaddleable!” Despite this sincere warning from a man who apparently felt lucky to be alive, groups of expert kayakers have successfully run Turnback Canyon since then. A prominent mountain which overlooks the Alsek was named Mount Blackadar in his honor.

The portion of the river inside Kluane National Park has been designated a Canadian Heritage River.

In 1958, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake centered near Lituya bay significantly changed the lay of the land.[1] The earthquake caused the Doame river and East Alsek river to join together.

[edit] Fishing

The Alsek and East Alsek rivers are a part of the Yakutat area limited entry set gillnet fishery. Both rivers produce King, Silver, and Sockeye commercially. Chum and Pink salmon can also be caught, but are not generally sought after due to their relative lack of worth/quality. These two rivers can be characterized as low volume fisheries, while the Alsek river in particular produces particularly high quality salmon due to its low temperature. The Alsek’s silt content also prevents the sun from damaging the fish.

The area also supports subsistence and sport fishing. There are multiple local sport fishing, sight-seeing, hunting, and animal watching lodges

US List - North American Rivers

Below is a US List of the largest rivers in North America. You can find details on each in the subcategories.

* Alsek - Canada/United States
* Columbia - Canada/United States
o Okanagan - Canada/United States
o Kettle - Canada
o Pend Oreille - United States
o Kootenay - Canada/United States
o Canoe - Canada
o Kicking Horse - Canada
* Dean - Canada
* Fraser - Canada
o Pitt - Canada
o Thompson - Canada
o Chilcotin - Canada
o Quesnel - Canada
o Nechako - Canada
* Liard - Canada
* Mississippi - United States
* Nass - Canada
* Peace - Canada
* Saskatchewan - Canada
* Skagit - Canada/United States
* Skeena - Canada
o Babine - Canada
o Bulkley - Canada
o Morice - Canada
o Kitwanga - Canada
o Zymoetz - Canada
* Squamish - Canada
* St. Lawrence - Canada
* Yukon - Canada/United States