Lost streams of Idaho
There are two rivers in Idaho named "Lost", the
Course
The Big Lost River is about 135 miles (217 km) long
The Little Lost River is about 49 miles (79 km) long.[1] It flows southeast between the Lost River Range to the west and the Lemhi Range to the east. It enters the Snake River Plain north of the sinks and flows into them at locations called Little Lost River Sinks.
The sinks and the lower courses of both rivers are within the land of the Idaho National Laboratory, northeast of Craters of the Moon. Water from both rivers emerges about 100 miles (160 km) away at Thousand Springs near Hagerman and other springs downstream of Twin Falls. Due to irrigation using the aquifer's water, most of the rivers' water is pumped out of the ground, used to irrigate crops, and returned to the ground as irrigation drainage, where it eventually emerges at the springs and joins the Snake River.
Basin and discharge
The Big Lost River's drainage basin is approximately 1,400 square miles (3,626 km2) in area[2] Its mean annual discharge, as measured by USGS gage 13132500 (Big Lost River near Arco), is 91.7 cubic feet per second (2.60 m3/s), with a maximum daily recorded flow of 1,840 cu ft/s (52 m3/s), and a minimum of zero flow.[3]
The Little Lost River's drainage basin is approximately 971 square miles (2,515 km2) in area[2] Its mean annual discharge, as measured by USGS gage 13118700 (Little Lost River below Wet Creek, near Howe, Idaho), is 65 cubic feet per second (1.8 m3/s), with a maximum daily recorded flow of 486 cu ft/s (14 m3/s), and a minimum of 3 cu ft/s (0.085 m3/s).[3]
See also
- List of rivers in Idaho
- Losing stream
- Tributaries of the Columbia River
References
- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed May 4, 2011
- ^ a b Upper Snake, Headwaters, Closed Basin Subbasins Plan Plan Archived 2012-02-13 at the Wayback Machine, Northwest Power and Conservation Council
- ^ a b Snake River basin between Mud Lake and King Hill (includes Lost, Wood, Malad River basins), Water Resources Data, Idaho, 2005
- "Idaho Atlas and Gazetteer". 5th ed. DeLorme, 2002.
- Big Lost River, The Columbia Gazetteer of North America.
- Little Lost River, The Columbia Gazetteer of North America.
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Big Lost River
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Little Lost River
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: East Fork Big Lost River
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: North Fork Big Lost River
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Dry Channel Big Lost River
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Big Lost River Sinks
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Little Lost River Sinks