Columbia River

Columbia River Gorge, Washington or North side

The Columbia River (French: fleuve Columbia) is a river situated in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It is the largest river in volume flowing into the Pacific Ocean from the Western Hemisphere, and is the fourth largest by volume in North America behind the Mississippi, the St Lawrence, and the Mackenzie rivers. In rare years, the river's flow may actually exceed that of the Mississippi. The mean total flow is 262,000 ft³/s (7400 m³/s). It is the largest hydroelectric power producing river in North America. From its headwaters to the Pacific Ocean it flows 1,232 miles (2,044 km), and drains 258,000 square miles (415,211 km²). Because of it large water volume, it has the nickname 'the Mighty Columbia.'

Geography

Columbia Lake forms the Columbia's headwaters in the Canadian Rockies of southern British Columbia. The river then flows through Windermere Lake and the town of Invermere, then northwest to Golden and into Kinbasket Lake. The river then turns (the "Big Bend") south through Revelstoke Lake and the Arrow Lakes to the BC–Washington border.

The river then flows through the east-central portion of Washington State. The last 300 miles (480 km) of the Columbia form the Washington-Oregon boundary. The river goes into the Pacific Ocean at Ilwaco, Washington and Astoria, Oregon forming the Columbia Bar.

For its first 200 miles (320 km) the Columbia flows northwest; it then bends to the south, crossing from Canada into the United States, where the river meets the Clark Fork. The Clark Fork River begins near Butte, Montana and flows through western Montana before entering Pend Oreille Lake. Water draining from the lake forms the Pend Oreille River, which flows across the Idaho panhandle to Washington's northeastern corner where it meets the northern Canadian fork.

Columbia River Gorge, Oregon or South side

The river then runs south-southwest through the Columbia Plateau, changing to a southeasterly direction near the confluence of the Wenatchee River in central Washington. The river continues southeast, past The Gorge Amphitheatre (a prominent concert venue in the Northwest), and then past the Hanford Nuclear Reservation just before it reaches the Snake River. The Columbia then makes a sharp bend to the west where it begins to form the Washington-Oregon border.

Near the town of Hood River, Oregon, the river begins cutting through the Cascade Mountains at the entrance to the Columbia River Gorge. The west side of the gorge is marked by Crown Point. Constant winds of 15 to 35 mph (25 to 55 km/h) blow through this wide straight gorge. It was here in Hood River County, Oregon that windsurfing was originated.

The river continues west with one small north-northwesterly-directed stretch near Portland; Vancouver, Washington; and the confluence with the Willamette River. On this sharp bend the river's flow slows considerably and it drops the sediment that would normally form a delta.

Columbia River Basin, showing major dams and tributaries

Major tributaries

For a more complete list See Tributaries of the Columbia River

Tributary	Discharge*
Snake River	56,900
Willamette River	35,660
Kootenai River	30,650
Pend Oreille River	27,820
Cowlitz River	9,200
Spokane River	6,700
Deschutes River	6,000
Lewis River	4,800
Yakima River	3,540
Wenatchee River	3,220
Okanogan River	3,050
Kettle River	2,930
Sandy River	2,260

• - average discharge, cubic feet per second

Missoula Floods

The Columbia River and its drainage basin has experienced some of the world's greatest known floods. Towards the end of the last ice age, the rupturing of ice dams at glacial Lake Missoula resulted in discharge rates ten times the combined flow of all the rivers of the world [1]. Water levels resulting from the Missoula Floods have been estimated to be 1250 feet at the Wallula gap, 830 feet at Bonneville Dam, and 400 feet over current day Portland, Oregon[2]. In addition to their temporary inundation of the lower Columbia basin, these floods are responsible for many geological features still visible on the Columbia Plateau.

History

On May 11, 1792, Captain Robert Gray became the first European to sail into the Columbia River. Gray traveled to the Pacific Northwest to trade for fur in a privately-owned vessel named Columbia; he named the river after the ship. Gray's discovery of the Columbia established a stronger belief that Americans had more of a "right" to the Oregon Country, which was also claimed by Russians, British, Spanish, and other nations.

French explorers called the Columbia River "the river of storms," ouragan, which is a possible origin of the name "Oregon." Other possibilities have been suggested based on words from French and Spanish (since the region was explored by their nationals), but an official origin of the name is not known.

Cascade on the Columbia River

Lewis and Clark's overland expedition explored the vast, unmapped lands west of the Missouri River. On the last stretch of their expedition they traveled down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. The expedition led the way in settling the west.

In 1825, on behalf of the Hudson's Bay Company, Dr. John McLoughlin established Fort Vancouver (currently Vancouver, Washington) on the banks of the Columbia as a fur trading headquarters in the region. The fort was by far the largest western settlement of its time. Every year ships would come from London (via the Pacific) to drop off supplies and trade goods in exchange for the furs. For many settlers the fort became the last stop on the Oregon Trail to buy supplies and land before starting their homestead. Because of its access to the Columbia river, Fort Vancouver's influence reached from Alaska to California and from the Rocky Mountains to the Hawaiian Islands.

Hydroelectric dams

The mainstream of the Columbia River has 11 dams and 8 locks. Nearly half of all hydroelectricity in the United States comes from the Columbia and its tributaries. The largest of the 150 hydroelectric projects, the Grand Coulee Dam and the Chief Joseph Dam, are also the largest in the United States. The Grand Coulee Dam is the third largest hydroelectric dam in the world. The dams also provide a secondary benefit in flood control and irrigation.

On its north-south stretch through Eastern Washington, the Columbia spans a large desert created by the Cascade Mountains' rain shadow. The dams provide water for the Columbia Basin Project, one of the most extensive irrigation projects in the western United States. The project provides water to over 500,000 acres (2,000 km²) of fertile but arid lands in central Washington State. Water from the project has transformed the region from a wasteland barely able to produce subsistence levels of dry-land wheat crops to a major agricultural center. Important crops include apples, potatoes, alfalfa, wheat, corn (maize), barley, hops, beans, and sugar beets.

File:Roll on Columbia.jpg

The path of the Columbia River from Canada to the Pacific

Although the dams provide clean, renewable energy, they drastically alter the landscape and ecosystem of the river. At one time the Columbia was one of the top salmon producing river systems in the world. Previously active fishing sites, like Celilo Falls in the eastern Columbia River Gorge highlight the relative decline in fishing along the Columbia during the last century. The presence of dams coupled with over-fishing has played a major role in the reduction of salmon populations. Fish ladders have been installed to help the fish journey to spawning waters. Additionally each dams' reservoirs are closely regulated by the Bonneville Power Administration to ensure one dam is not hoarding water to the detriment of habitat for salmon and other fish.

Pollution

This Reservation was established in 1940s as part of the Manhattan Project. It is located along the river in southeastern Washington on 586 mile² (1,520 km²) of some of the most fertile land in North America; at the time of its establishment, the area was considered a wasteland. The site served as a plutonium production complex with nine nuclear reactors and related facilities. Most of the facilities were shut down in the 1960s. The site is currently under control of the Department of Energy, and is a Superfund site. The Superfund cleanup is expected to be completed in 2030.

Culture

Kitesurfing on the Columbia River

With the importance of the Columbia to the Pacific Northwest, it has made its way into the culture of the area and the nation.

From the Woody Guthrie song "Roll on, Columbia":

"Roll on, Columbia, roll on, roll on, Columbia, roll on

Your power is turning our darkness to dawn

Roll on, Columbia, roll on."

In the movies

• Bend of the River (with Jimmy Stewart), has a river boat scene filmed on the Columbia River in 1952.

• In 1954, some scenes of the television series Lassie were filmed in the Columbia River Gorge.

• The Grand Coulee Dam was used in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984; Harrison Ford).

• The exterior river boat scenes from the 1994 film Maverick (Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and James Garner), were shot on the Columbia River, in the Columbia River Gorge, near the town of Hood River.

• The dock scene for Snow Falling on Cedars (1999; Ethan Hawke) was filmed on the river at Cathlamet, Wahkiakum County, Washington.

• The rock jetty Free Willy jumps over to gain his freedom is located on the Oregon side of the river in the Hammond Boat Basin.

See also

• Columbia River Highway
• Columbia Bar
• Tributaries of the Columbia River
• Cities on the Columbia River
• Hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River
• Cascades Rapids
• List of Washington rivers
• List of Oregon rivers
• List of British Columbia rivers
• Grays Point
• Columbia River Treaty

External links

• Bibliography on Water Resources and International Law See Columbia River. Peace Palace Libray
• Historic Columbia River Highway
• National Geographic on the Columbia
• BC Hydro Generation System Information
• Center for Columbia River History
• Columbia River Maritime Museum
• Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area
• CORIE, a Columbia River observation and prediction system