Kaweah River
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kaweah River | |
| River | |
 The Kaweah River flowing through the drained Lake Kaweah bed, during low water
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| Name origin: Yokut for "crow" or "raven cry" | |
| Country |  United States |
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| State | California |
| County | Tulare County |
| Source | Sierra Nevada Range |
| - location | Sequoia National Park, California |
| - coordinates | 36°30′53″N 118°48′7″W / 36.51472°N 118.80194°W [1] |
| Mouth | Lake Kaweah |
| - location | San Joaquin Valley, California |
| - coordinates | 36°20′12″N 119°13′23″W / 36.33667°N 119.22306°W [1] |
| Length | 67 mi (108 km) [1][2] |
| Basin | 700 sq mi (1,813 km2) |
| Discharge | for Lake Kaweah |
| - average | 200 cu ft/s (6 m3/s) |
| - max | 56,600 cu ft/s (1,603 m3/s) |
| - min | 40 cu ft/s (1 m3/s) |
 Map of the Kaweah River watershed also showing distributary St. Johns River
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  Location of the mouth of the Kaweah River in California
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The Kaweah River in the U.S. state of California flows 32 miles (51 km) westward from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada into the Central Valley. It rises in forks in the southern Sierra Nevada inside Sequoia National Park, the longest of which is the Middle Fork, about 35 miles (56 km) long. Once it exits the 8,000-foot (2,400 m)-deep canyons that make up its headwaters, the river flows into Lake Kaweah, where most of its water is diverted for irrigation. Formerly, the river continued southwest to empty into Tulare Lake, but as with the other southern Central Valley rivers, its lower course is now dry, as is Tulare Lake.
Snowmelt from the high Sierra Nevada, along the 13,000-foot (4,000 m)-high Great Western Divide, feeds the Kaweah River, which reaches enormous peak flows in the spring and early summer and shrinks to a trickle by late autumn. The river's average flow is around 200 cubic feet per second (5.7 m3/s), but ranges anywhere from 7,500 cubic feet per second (210 m3/s) to 40 cubic feet per second (1.1 m3/s). The site of Lake Kaweah, in a broad, arid valley in the foothills, was once inhabited by the Yokut people, who had permanent villages along the river but traveled into the headwaters area in summer. The name "Kaweah" is thought to mean "crow" or "raven cry" in the Yokut language.
Eventually, people from the Mono Lake basin began migrating over the Sierra Nevada, settling in the high valleys of the Kaweah's forks. Mineral King on the East Fork of the river was the subject of a silver boom in the 1870s, which soon faded. The majority of the Kaweah watershed above the Central Valley became part of Sequoia National Park in 1890, and a road was constructed along parts of the Middle Fork and the Marble Fork. The southeasternmost part of the river's watershed also became part of the park in the 1970s, after a failed proposal to build a massive ski resort, and the Kaweah River is now a popular destination for hiking, fishing and whitewater rafting.
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[edit] Course
The Kaweah River rises in the southernmost part of the Sierra Nevada and flows southwest into the dry endorheic basin of the southern San Joaquin Valley, as do the Kings, Tule, and Kern Rivers, which all begin in or near Sequoia National Park. There are five primary forks to the Kaweah River: the Middle Fork, East Fork, North Fork, South Fork and Marble Fork, ordered by size. The Middle Fork, the largest tributary and sometimes considered the main stem of the Kaweah River, rises along the Great Western Divide, fed by a series of lakes, springs and snowfields. The river flows west, passing Moro Rock and crossing underneath California State Route 198, more commonly known as the Generals Highway (the main road through Sequoia National Park) between the confluence with Paradise Creek and the Marble Fork.
The Marble Fork Kaweah River, about 17 miles (27 km) long, begins in a granite basin north of the Middle Fork's headwaters. It runs west, dropping over Tokopah Valley Falls, a 1,250-foot (380 m) cascade, before crossing under Generals Highway and dropping over Marble Fork Falls, a series of waterfalls totaling about 40 feet (12 m) in height. It merges with the Middle Fork Kaweah River and about 2 miles (3.2 km) later the river leaves the southwestern boundary of Sequoia National Park. Immediately after the river exits the park, the East Fork enters from the left. The East Fork begins to the south of the Middle Fork near Sawtooth Peak, and parallels the Great Western Divide as it flows through a glacial valley known as Mineral King. It turns abruptly westwards, and after flowing nearly 30 miles (48 km), it empties into the Middle Fork.
From the confluence of the Middle and East Forks the river flows southwest, past the town of Three Rivers, named for the Middle, South and North Forks of the Kaweah River which converge near the town to form the main Kaweah River. The North Fork begins in a remote valley in the southeastern extreme of Sequoia National Park and flows about 11 miles (18 km) south to the Middle Fork. The South Fork, about 8 miles (13 km) long, rises in the foothills and flows northeast into the Middle Fork, from where the river is formally known as the main Kaweah River. However, the river soon empties into Lake Kaweah, which originally stretched much farther upstream than it currently does. Due to a lasting drought, the lake has shrunken to a tiny fraction of its former size. The river spills through the dam, and another three run-of-the-river dams, owned by Southern California Edison, tap the Kaweah for hydroelectricity. It then splits into several distributaries, including the St. Johns River, running northwest, and Deep Creek, flowing south-southwest. The river continues west through farmland, past Lemon Cove and under California State Route 245. It then runs past Visalia and splits into many smaller channels. By the time the remaining water reaches the drained bed of Tulare Lake, it is mostly dry.
[edit] Natural history
The watershed has numerous flora and fauna species, with considerable forested reaches. In the 1909 survey by Willis Linn Jepson there were found to be 20,000 trees (5000 of which were large trees) in the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River. There are also numerous wildflower species including the iconic Yellow Mariposa Lily, Calochortus luteus, which has been specifically noted in the Lime Kiln Creek tributary watershed.[3]
[edit] History
The meaning of the word "kaweah", pronounced "ga-we-hah", in the ancient Yokuts language is "crow" or "raven cry".
The first inhabitants of the Kaweah River Watershed were the Yokuts, who claimed water rights to the entire river. They settled in several villages in the broad, arid valley the Kaweah cut through the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, in and around the present-day site of Lake Kaweah, an irrigation and water supply lake.[4] The Yokut sub-tribe called the Wukchumni lived in this area; their largest villages included Cobble Lodge at the confluence of the Kaweah River and Horse Creek (a southern tributary), and Slick Rock Village further upstream. Lower on the river were the Fawia, Telamni, Wolasi, Choinok, and Yokod. Further north, in the Kings River watershed, were the Monachi.[5]
Subsisting mostly on acorns, the Yokut grinded acorns in mortars with granite pestles, and creating cakes and other foods from the material.They claimed the water rights of the entire Kaweah although in time, tribes from the Mono Basin east of the Sierra Nevada came over the Sierra and settled in the high mountain valleys of the Kaweah. Mineral King, a valley on the East Fork Kaweah River, was a summer settlement for the Yokut. However, several years before the arrival of Europeans, the valley became taboo to them for an unknown reason.
Spanish explorers named the river Rio San Francisco and Rio San Gabriel while early American settlers often referred to the river as the River Francis.[6]
The first known European settler along the Kaweah river was Hale Dixon Tharp in 1856. He settled on Horse Creek near its confluence with the Kaweah River. During the 1860s, other stockman settled along the various forks of the river claiming large areas of land under the Homestead Act of 1862. This act allowed a settler to occupy 160 acres (0.65 km2), or 320 acres (1.3 km2) for a man and wife together. Thus began the settlement of the Kaweah region. Since then, various mining towns (due to the discovery of silver) and small establishments have existed in the area.
[edit] Recreation
There is some fishing and rafting on the river, but access is difficult because some of the land is privately-owned, particularly in the lower portion. There are several companies that offer day trips on the class IV section. The Kaweah River is free-flowing above Lake Kaweah and depending on the winter snowfall, it can rise to very high flows during the spring. It is best if rafters and kayakers have previous experience running class IV because with the fluctuating flows, the river requires great maneuvering and whitewater skills.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey Geographical Names Information System: Kaweah River
- ^ Length figure in geobox includes the Middle Fork as it is sometimes considered the main stem and this gives a more realistic perception on the river's length both above and below Terminus Dam
- ^ C. Michael Hogan. 2009. Yellow Mariposa Lily: Calochortus luteus, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg
- ^ "Recreation Management Guidelines". U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Wild and Scenic River Eligibility and Preliminary Classification Report. http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/bakersfield/Programs/planning/rmpcontents/chapt7_ws_river.html. Retrieved 2009-09-14.
- ^ "Native American Occupation of the Terminus Reservoir Region". NPS, Smithsonian Institution. U.S. National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/smithsonian/terminus-reservoir/sec4.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-14.
- ^ "Terminus Dam and Reservoir—Kaweah River, California". Smithsonian Institution. U.S. National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/smithsonian/terminus-reservoir/sec1.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
[edit] External links
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