Chelan River

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Chelan River
Data
Water code US :  1517649
location Chelan County in Washington (USA)
River system Columbia River
Drain over Columbia River  → Pacific Ocean
source Lake Chelan
47 ° 50 ′ 5 "  N , 120 ° 0 ′ 43"  W.
Source height 335  m
muzzle Columbia River Coordinates: 47 ° 48 ′ 32 "  N , 119 ° 59 ′ 3"  W 47 ° 48 ′ 32 "  N , 119 ° 59 ′ 3"  W.
Mouth height 217  m 
Height difference 118 m
Bottom slope 18 ‰
length 6.5 km
Catchment area 2393 km²
Small towns Chelan

The Chelan River is a tributary of the Columbia River in Washington state . At just 4 miles (4 miles), it is the shortest river in Washington. The Lake Chelan Dam is at the origin of the river, the outflow of Lake Chelan . Here, almost all of the runoff is diverted into the power station, which is 6.3 km downstream near its mouth. Therefore the river is almost always almost dry. The flow rate is measured directly below the power plant, so that the discharge of the water has no effect on the statistics. The name of the river and the Chelan Indian tribe of the same name goes back to Tsi-Laan ("deep water"), the name given to Lake Chelan by the neighboring Wenatchi .

Run

The Chelan River has its origin at the outflow of Lake Chelan in the town of Chelan , which is at the southern end of the lake. The dam blocks the river. Below, the mostly dry river bed runs for 6.3 km through a steep and rocky gorge before the river flows into the Columbia near the settlement of Chelan Falls. The downpipe has a length of around 3.5 km and a drop height of 122 m. The Lake Chelan Powerhouse is at the former mouth of the river. The diverted water drives the turbines and then flows into the Columbia at river mile 503.3 (810 km above the estuary). This estuary is actually the Columbia, but has no gradient due to its damming by the Rocky Reach Dam .

Hydraulic engineering

Although Lake Chelan is a natural lake, its water level and flow rate have been regulated by Lake Chelan Dam since it was built in 1927. Due to the dam, the river bed is almost always dry, water only occasionally flows over the overflow into the actual river, especially in spring and at the beginning of summer when the snowmelt causes the lake's water level to rise. The river water is not only used to generate energy through hydropower , but also for the purposes of irrigation and the supply of drinking water . In the summer months, the water level at Lake Chelan is also kept high for recreational purposes.

Due to the steep slope in the Chelan River gorge, migratory fish were not able to enter Lake Chelan even before the dam was built. However, there are a number of non-migrating fish species in the lake and its tributaries.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chelan River ( English ) In: Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . Retrieved December 17, 2010.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Lake Chelan Subbasin Plan , Northwest Power and Conservation Council
  3. ↑ a b c d Methow and Chelan River Basins and the Columbia River from Bridgeport to Wells Dam (PDF; 2.6 MB), Water Resource Data, Washington, 2005, United States Geological Survey . (English)