Kitwanga River
| Kitwanga River | ||
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| Data | ||
| location | British Columbia (Canada) | |
| River system | Skeena River | |
| Drain over | Skeena River → Pacific Ocean | |
| Headwaters |
Nass Ranges 55 ° 19 ′ 56 ″ N , 128 ° 21 ′ 12 ″ W. |
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| Source height | approx. 1200 m | |
| muzzle |
Skeena River Coordinates: 55 ° 6 '5 " N , 128 ° 5' 9" W 55 ° 6 '5 " N , 128 ° 5' 9" W. |
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| Mouth height | 172 m | |
| Height difference | approx. 1028 m | |
| Bottom slope | approx. 16 ‰ | |
| length | approx. 64 km | |
| Catchment area | approx. 833 km² | |
| Left tributaries | Moonlit Creek | |
| Right tributaries | Kitwancool Creek, Deuce Creek | |
| Flowing lakes | Kitwancool Lake | |
| Communities | Gitanyow, Gitwangak | |
The Kitwanga River is an approximately 64 km long orographic right tributary of the Skeena River in the northwest of the Canadian province of British Columbia .
River course
The Kitwanga River rises in the Nass Ranges , a mountain range between the Nass River and the Skeena River , at an altitude of about 1200 m . It initially flows about 20 km north, later east through the mountains and flows into the northern end of Kitwancool Lake . It leaves this at the southern end of the lake and flows another 31 km in a predominantly southern direction before it flows into the Skeena River at the village of Kitwanga ( Gitwangak ), 30 km southwest of Hazelton . The Kitwanga River's main tributaries are Moonlit Creek from the left and Kitwancool Creek from the right. The Gitanyow settlement is located about 20 km above the estuary . The British Columbia Highway 37 (Stewart-Cassiar Highway) follows the course below the Kitwancool Lake.
Hydrology
The Kitwanga River drains an area of approximately 833 km². Its catchment area borders in the north on that of the Cranberry River , a tributary of the Nass River. In the west the catchment area is bounded by the Nass Ranges, in the east by the Kispiox Range . The mean flood discharge (MHQ) is around 68.4 m³ / s. The largest runoffs occur in the months of May and June during the snowmelt .
Fish fauna
Kitwancool Lake is a major spawning area for sockeye salmon ( Oncorhynchus nerka ) in British Columbia. As the fish population is considered threatened, a fish counting station was set up 4 km above the estuary. Between July 13th and October 12th, 2011, 2366 sockeye salmon, 845 king salmon , 68,410 humpback salmon , 460 ketal salmon and 1422 silver salmon were recorded. In addition, in the Kitwanga River u. a. the following fish species: steelhead trout , rainbow trout , cutthroat trout , dolly-varden trout , bull trout and Prosopium williamsoni (mountain whitefish).