Skokomish River

Skokomish River
Delta of the Skokomish River on the Hood Canal
Data
Water code	US :  1525867
location	Washington (USA)
River system	Skokomish River
source	of the North Fork: Mount Skokomish, Olympic Mountains
muzzle	Hood Canal Coordinates: 47 ° 20 '17 "  N , 123 ° 7' 4"  W 47 ° 20 '17 "  N , 123 ° 7' 4"  W.
Mouth height	0  m
length	14.5 km  69 km with the North Fork
Catchment area	588 km²  (at the gauge)
Drain	MQ	34.3 m³ / s
Right tributaries	McTaggert Creek, Deer Meadow Creek (both on the North Fork)
Reservoirs flowed through	Lake Cushman and Lake Kokanee (both on the North Fork)
US Highway 101 north of Shelton on December 3, 2007. The water of the Skokomish River is about 120 cm high on the roadway

The Skokomish River is a 69 km long river on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state, USA .

geography

The Skokomish River has its origin at the southeast corner of the Olympic Mountains in Mason County, Washington. It flows in a south-easterly direction and finally flows into the Hood Canal , a fjord belonging to the Puget Sound, at Union . Lake Cushman and Lake Kokanee are two lakes on the northern arm of the Skokomish River that have been separated by Cushman Dam No. 1 , or since 1930 by the Cushman Dam No. 2 are dammed. Almost all of the water from this arm is diverted to generate energy and then flows directly to the Hood Canal. The northern arm does not meet with the southern arm until 12 km later, about 14 km above the mouth into the sea.

history

Prior to the establishment of the Cushman Hydroelectric Project , the Skokomish River was Washington's most salmon-rich river. Like most rivers in the Pacific Northwest , the river bears the name of the Indian tribe that lived on its banks. The name of the Skokomish is derived from the Salishan : skokom + ish = "brave" + "people" or "strong" + "people". The meaning is the same in Chinook jargon .

The course of the South Fork Skokomish River was heavily used for rafting until the area was declared a national forest in the late 1980s .

Hydrography

The United States Geological Survey operates a total of five gauges in the catchment area of ​​the Skokomish River ; one of them is below the confluence of the two arms, one at the South Fork and the rest in the course of the North Fork.

The catchment area of the river covers 588 km² at the lowest level, about 8.5 km above the mouth into the sea. Of this, however, 256 km² regularly only contribute if the water is not used to generate energy through hydropower at Cushman Dam No. 2 is derived directly to the Hood Canal. The level is about 6 km below the confluence of the two arms at the bridge of US Highway 101 .

At this level, the average annual runoff between 1944 and 2006 was around 34.3 m³ / s, with the highest runoff on November 23, 1990 at 1040 m³ / s and the lowest value at 2.8 m³ / s on 27 and October 28, and between November 6 and 9, 1987.

Floods

The Skokomish River is one of the most flood-prone waterways in Washington and is believed to be one of the first rivers to overflow its banks when it comes to heavy rain. The combination of the previously extensive forestry, the damming of the North Forks and the typical winter rainfall are the main causes of the regular flooding. From late autumn to the beginning of spring, the storms mostly come from the southwest and, due to the topography of the Olympic Haůbinsel, dump most of the rainfall in the catchment area of ​​the Skokomish River.

Ever since the river flooded US Highway 101 and Washington State Route 106 in 1996 , cutting off a team of Seattle television reporters for four days, these floods have generated considerable media coverage and many of the reports have since included the joking question, "Why crossed the salmon the road? "

The December storms in the Pacific Northwest in 2007 caused a flood that on December 3, 2007 exceeded the previous highest water level of the Skokomish River on November 5, 1934 (but not the highest level of discharge). An intense rainstorm with tropical warm air had followed heavy snowfall the day before and the thaw had increased the consequences of the rain.

See also

• List of rivers in Washington

Web links

• Salmon, Tribes, and Hydropower Dams in the US Puget Sound
• Cushman Hydro Project Statistics
• Skokomish River Basin, USGS (PDF file; 1.58 MB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lansing, Steve: Skokomish: The Value of a River . In: Resources for Ecological Anthropology . Retrieved February 17, 2008.
2. ↑ An Overview of Washington's Skokomish River . In: The Wilderness Society . Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. 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. Retrieved February 17, 2008. 
3. ^ Skokomish Watershed Action Team . In: Red Lodge Clearinghouse Story Profiles . November 2006. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved on February 17, 2008.
4. ^ McBee, Dave: Flooded by Greed . In: "Get Lost" magazine . Archived from the original on March 24, 2008. 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. Retrieved February 17, 2008. 
5. ↑ Soltes, Harley: Why did the salmon cross the road? . In: The Seattle Times . November 16, 2001. Retrieved February 17, 2008.
6. ↑ Flood waters recede, revealing devastating loss . In: KOMOTV.com . December 6, 2007. Archived from the original on December 15, 2007. 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. Retrieved February 17, 2008. 
7. ↑ USGS 12061500 SKOKOMISH RIVER NEAR POTLATCH, WA . In: USGS National Water Information System: Web Interface . December 6, 2007. Retrieved February 17, 2008.