Flathead River

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Flathead River
Map of the Flathead River, its tributaries and the connection to the Columbia River via Clark Fork and Pend Oreille Rivers

Map of the Flathead River, its tributaries and the connection to the Columbia River via Clark Fork and Pend Oreille Rivers

Data
Water code US783518
location Montana (USA)
River system Columbia River
Drain over Clark Fork  → Pend Oreille River  → Columbia River  → Pacific Ocean
confluence from North Fork and Middle Fork Flathead Rivers
48 ° 28 ′ 2 "  N , 114 ° 4 ′ 10"  W
Source height 950  m
muzzle in the Clark Fork coordinates: 47 ° 21 '56 "  N , 114 ° 46' 34"  W 47 ° 21 '56 "  N , 114 ° 46' 34"  W.
Mouth height 757  m
Height difference 193 m
Bottom slope 0.5 ‰
length 386 km
Catchment area 22,781 km²
Drain MQ
323 m³ / s
Left tributaries South Fork Flathead River , Jocko River
Right tributaries Stillwater River , Beaver Creek, North Fork Crooked River, Ochoco Creek
Flowing lakes Flathead Lake
Medium-sized cities Kalispell
Small towns Columbia Falls
National Wild and Scenic River (above the South Fork Estuary )
Lower Flathead River

Lower Flathead River

North Fork Flathead River
Water code US788164
location British Columbia (Canada),
Montana (USA)
River system Columbia River
Drain over Flathead River → Clark Fork  → Pend Oreille River  → Columbia River  → Pacific Ocean
source north of Flathead Peak , in the Clark Range
49 ° 19 ′ 56 ″  N , 114 ° 51 ′ 9 ″  W
Source height 1600  m
Union with middle fork to the Flathead River
48 ° 28 ′ 2 ″  N , 114 ° 4 ′ 9 ″  W
Mouth height 950  m
Height difference 650 m

National Wild and Scenic River (south of the Canadian border)
Middle Fork Flathead River
Middle Fork Flathead River near Essex, Montana

Middle Fork Flathead River near Essex , Montana

Data
Water code US787275
location Montana (USA)
River system Columbia River
Drain over Flathead River → Clark Fork  → Pend Oreille River  → Columbia River  → Pacific Ocean
source in Flathead County
47 ° 59 ′ 47 ″  N , 113 ° 3 ′ 30 ″  W.
Union with North Fork to the Flathead River
48 ° 28 ′ 1 ″  N , 114 ° 4 ′ 9 ″  W
Mouth height 950  m

National Wild and Scenic River
South Fork Flathead River
Water code US790966
location Montana (USA)
River system Columbia River
Drain over Flathead River → Clark Fork  → Pend Oreille River  → Columbia River  → Pacific Ocean
source in Powell County,
47 ° 26 '44 "  N , 113 ° 11' 1"  W.
muzzle into the Flathead River
48 ° 23 '22 "  N , 114 ° 5' 18"  W.
Mouth height 922  m

Reservoirs flowed through Hungry Horse Reservoir
National Wild and Scenic River (above the reservoir)

The Flathead River is a right tributary of the Clark Fork in the US state of Montana .

It is located in the eastern Rocky Mountains and its valley is part of the cross-border Crown of the Continent Ecosystem .

The river begins at the confluence of two of its headwaters, the North Fork Flathead River and the Middle Fork Flathead River . Below this confluence the South Fork Flathead River joins as the third source river . The North Fork is the longest of these three arms and is sometimes viewed as part of the Flathead River proper.

The river is over the Clark Fork, which drains into Lake Pend Oreille and the Pend Oreille River part of the drainage basin of the Columbia River .

Parts of the three river arms are designated as National Wild and Scenic River . Its entire cross-border catchment area was exempted from the use of the storage sites for energy sources such as hard coal and natural gas in February 2010.

Run

North Fork Flathead River

The headwaters of the North Fork Flathead River is located in southeast British Columbia in the Clark Range , which belongs to the Rocky Mountains . It flows first to the east and then south to Montana, where it forms the western boundary of Glacier National Park .

In Montana, the North Fork flows south through between the Whitefish Range and the Salish Mountains on the west side and Livingston Range , Lewis Range , Flathead Range and Swan Range on the east side. Tributaries to the North Fork Flathead River include Kintla Creek, Whale Creek, Bowman Creek, Quartz Creek, Coal Creek, Camas Creek, and Big Creek. It then joins the Middle Fork Flathead River to form the Flathead River.

In Montana, the North Fork Flathead River is designated a National Wild and Scenic River. In British Columbia he was under no protection for a long time. This has led to a three-decade-long dispute between the United States and Canada. In 1988, the International Joint Commission decided that a proposed coal mine would violate the 1909 Treaty on Border Waters.

The extraction of raw materials and energy continued to be a threat to the North Fork, which the New York Times described in 2004 as the "wildest river in the Continental United States " . BP declined in 2008 to plans, methane from the coal lagerstätten to win the Cline Mining Corporation planned to 2010 in the headwaters of the North Flathead a coal mine in open pit to open. The plans came to an end in February 2010 when the Canadian province of British Columbia and the US state of Montana decided to permanently exclude the entire cross-border catchment area of the Flathead River from the exploitation of deposits for energy production. Since then, a bill has been introduced into the United States Congress to revoke oil and gas licenses that have already been issued on approximately 1,000 km². After this was slowed down in the Senate , Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester , both Democrats from Montana, negotiated with the oil and gas companies and achieved a voluntary return of around 800 km² (as of November 2010).

Middle Fork Flathead River

The Middle Fork Flathead River has its source in a headwaters on the western side of the continental divide in Flathead County . It flows into Ole Creek, Nyack Creek and McDonald, among others. It flows steadily to the northwest and connects with the North Fork near West Glacier , from there it bears the name Flathead River without any addition.

Much of the Middle Fork is designated as the National Wild and Scenic River. It drains parts of the Bob Marshall Wilderness and the Great Bear Wilderness in the Flathead National Forest. Its lower section borders the southern edge of Glacier National Park.

South Fork Flathead River

The South Fork Flathead River originates in Powell County , where various spring waters converge. They include Gordon Creek, Danaher Creek, and Youngs Creek. The river follows a roughly north and northwest course and collects various tributaries that include White River, Big Salmon Creek, Little Salmon Creek, Gorge Creek, Spotted Bear Creek, and Sullivan Creek. Most of the upper South Fork is in the Bob Marshall Wilderness area of the Flathead National Forest.

The Hungry Horse Dam dams the water at the bottom of the South Fork Flathead River to form a reservoir known as the Hungry Horse Reservoir . A few miles below the dam, the southern arm empties into the main channel of the Flathead River at Hungry Horse .

Flathead River

The actual Flathead River, created by the confluence of the North Fork and Middle Fork, flows in a generally south-facing course. After the South Fork Flathead River empties a few kilometers after the confluence, the river passes the cities of Columbia Falls and Kalispell . A tributary in this section is the Stillwater River , into which the Whitefish River flows.

A few kilometers south of Kalispell, the Flathead River empties into the northern end of Flathead Lake . The Swan River flows into this before the Flathead River leaves the lake again at its southern end at Polson . Although the lake is of natural origin, its water level and the amount of runoff is determined by the Kerr Dam , which dams the river a few kilometers from the lake.

Below the dam, the Flathead River continues to flow south through the Flathead Reservation , between the Salish Mountains in the west and the Mission Range in the east. The Little Bitterroot River , Crow Creek, Mission Creek and Jocko River flow into this section and two small National Wildlife Refuges (wildlife sanctuaries) of the US Fish and Wildlife Service are located in the vicinity of the river .

Below the Jocko River, the Flathead River turns west. It cuts through the Salish Mountains to flow into the Clark Fork at Paradise .

history

The area has been inhabited for around 7,500 years, as archaeological traces reveal. The last known North American Indian people who settled in this area and still live today were the Flathead , after whom the river was named. The white conquest began at the end of the 18th century. Fur traders from the North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company came to the area in the early 19th century. A trading post was established north of Flathead Lake. The first settlers arrived in the 1860s and agricultural irrigation began in 1880 .

Hydrography

The United States Geological Survey operates a gauge at Perma near the confluence with the Clark Fork . In the long-term mean, the average flow rate at this level is 323 m³ / s. The highest value of 1515 m³ / s was observed on June 6, 1997, the lowest recorded amount was 76 m³ / s on May 29, 1984.

Web links

Commons : Flathead River  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c North Fork Flathead River in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey
  2. a b Flathead River in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey
  3. a b Flathead River ( Memento of the original from March 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , The Columbia Gazetteer of North America  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bartleby.com
  4. ^ A b Montana Water Resources Data, 2004 , USGS
  5. Middle Fork Flathead River in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey
  6. ^ South Fork Flathead River in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey
  7. National Wild & Scenic Rivers - Flathead River ( Memento of the original from September 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rivers.gov
  8. ^ A b c Montana Atlas & Gazetteer , 4th. Edition, DeLorme , 2001, ISBN 0-89933-339-7 .
  9. Flathead Beacon: BP Drops Coal-Bed Methane Exploration Project North of Glacier Park , February 22, 2008
  10. ^ Government of British-Columbia - Media Room: BC, MONTANA PARTNER ON ENVIRONMENT, CLEAN ENERGY ( Memento of May 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Memorandum, Map and Press release - Environmental Protection, Climate Action and Energy, February 18, 2010
  11. The Missoulian: BP to retire oil, gas leases around Glacier National Park , November 19th 2010
  12. Hungry Horse Project ( Memento of the original from June 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , United States Bureau of Reclamation  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.usbr.gov