Powder River (Oregon)
Powder River (Oregon) Port-pel-lah | |
---|---|
Blue Mountains | |
• coordinates | 44°44′30″N 118°12′22″W / 44.74167°N 118.20611°W[1] |
• elevation | 4,400 ft (1,300 m) |
Mouth | Brownlee Reservoir on the Snake River |
• location | 10 mi (16 km) east of Richland, Oregon |
• coordinates | 44°44′37″N 117°02′56″W / 44.74361°N 117.04889°W[1] |
• elevation | 2,064 ft (629 m) |
Length | 153 mi (246 km)[2] |
Basin size | 1,603 sq mi (4,150 km2)[3] |
Discharge | |
• average | 534 cu ft/s (15.1 m3/s)[3] |
Type | Scenic |
Designated | October 28, 1988[4] |
The Powder River is a tributary of the Snake River, approximately 153 miles (246 km) long,[2] in northeast Oregon in the United States. It drains an area of the Columbia Plateau on the eastern side of the Blue Mountains. It flows almost entirely within Baker County but downstream of the city of North Powder forms part of the border between Baker County and Union County.
Name
The name Powder River is first recorded in the journals of
Course
The Powder River's tributaries arise in the southern
Tributaries
Major streams flowing into the Powder are
Watershed
The Powder River watershed drains 1,603 square miles (4,150 km2) of northeastern Oregon.[3] There are three man-made reservoirs on the Powder River: Phillips Reservoir (behind Mason Dam), Thief Valley Reservoir, and also the Powder arm of Brownlee Reservoir at the Oregon–Idaho border at the confluence of the Powder and Snake Rivers.
In 1988, 11.7 miles (18.8 km) of the Powder River was designated Wild and Scenic. Between the Thief Valley Dam and the Oregon Route 203 bridge, this stretch flows through a rugged canyon with spectacular geologic formations.[7]
Flora and fauna
The Powder River was once an important spawning stream for
See also
References
- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Powder River
- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed May 3, 2011
- ^ ISBN 978-0-87071-627-0.
- ^ "National Wild and Scenic Rivers System" (PDF). rivers.gov. National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
- JSTOR 20610373.
- ^ a b c Nowak, M. Cathy (May 28, 2004). Powder River Subbasin Plan (PDF) (Report). Baker County. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
- ^ "Powder River, Oregon". National Wild & Scenic Rivers. Archived from the original on 2010-06-10. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
- ^ Jacoby, Jayson (September 19, 2010). "Beavers Make Their Presence Known". Baker City Herald. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
- ^ "Oregon Releasing Chinook in Powder River". The Spokesman Review. May 25, 2010. Retrieved September 19, 2010.