Allagash River
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Allagash River | |
| River | |
 |
|
| Country |  United States |
|---|---|
| State | Maine |
| Region | New England |
| Source | Heron Lake |
| - elevation | 930 ft (283 m) |
| - coordinates | 46°29′33″N 69°17′17″W / 46.4925°N 69.28806°W |
| Mouth | St. John River |
| - elevation | 591 ft (180 m) |
| - coordinates | 47°05′8″N 69°02′38″W / 47.08556°N 69.04389°W |
| Length | 92 mi (148 km) |
| Basin | 1,479 sq mi (3,831 km²) |
The Allagash River is a tributary of the St. John River, approximately 92-mi (150 km) long, in northern Maine in the United States. It drains a remote and scenic area of wilderness in the Maine Woods north of Mount Katahdin.
The Allagash issues from Heron Lake at Churchill Depot in northern Piscataquis County. In its natural state, it also drained Allagash, Chamberlain, and Telos Lakes, but in the 1840s dams were built which diverted their drainage into the East Branch of the Penobscot River, to facilitate the shipping of logs south to coastal Maine.[1][2]
The Allagash flows generally northeast, passing through a chain of natural mountain lakes. It joins the St. John from the south at Allagash, Maine near the international border with New Brunswick. The relatively unspoiled nature of the river has long made it a popular destination for canoe trips. In the 1850s Henry David Thoreau made two journeys by canoe along the river, guided by Penobscots. He later wrote about the experience in his published account, The Maine Woods (1864).
In 1966, the citizens of Maine voted to protect the river by authorizing a $1.5 million bond that would "develop the maximum wilderness character" of the river. Much of the river was subsequently designated as the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. In 1970 the waterway became part of the National Wild and Scenic River program of the U.S. federal government. Although the wild designation of the river is normally applied to free-flowing streams, the designation left in place the wooden Churchill Dam for historic reasons. In the 1990s, with the dam failing, the citizens of Maine authorized a concrete replacement for the dam to preserve the nearby recreational facilities on the river. The rebuilding of the dam was highly criticized by environmentalists. The expansion of recreational access to the river through new roads and docks has remained a controversial topic in recent years.
Development in much of the area surrounding the Allagash Wilderness Waterway is restricted by the Seven Islands Land Company, a private land management company that owns approximately 1 million acres (4,000 km²) of forest in northern Maine.
The United States government maintains one river flow gage on the Allagash, located near Allagash, Maine (47°04′14″N 69°04′51″W / 47.07056°N 69.08083°W) where the rivershed is 1,479 square miles (3,830 km2). The maximum recorded flow is 36,900 cubic feet (1,040 m3) per second and the minimum 87 cubic feet (2.5 m3) per second. Annual maximum flows occur during the spring snow melt and minimums in the fall.[3]
[edit] External links
- NPS: Allagash Wilderness Waterway
- Real time river flow from the USGS.
- National Weather Service forecast of river levels and flow.
- "Allagash River". Geographic Names Information System. U.S. Geological Survey. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:561174. Retrieved on 2009-05-13
[edit] References
- ^ "Telos Dam and Cut (Canal)". Department of Conservation, State of Maine. 2004. http://www.maine.gov/doc/parks/programs/history/allagash/telosdam&cut.htm. Retrieved on 2009-05-14.
- ^ Megan Saunders (May 09, 2008). "History [of Churchill Dam]". Colby College. http://wiki.colby.edu/display/es398b/History. Retrieved on 2009-05-14.
- ^ G.J. Stewart, J.P. Nielsen, J.M. Caldwell, A.R. Cloutier (2002). "Water Resources Data - Maine, Water Year 2001" (PDF). Water Resources Data - Maine, Water Year 2001. http://me.water.usgs.gov/Maine01adr.pdf. Retrieved on 2006-05-07.
