White River (Puyallup River)
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White River Stuck River |
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 The White River (highlighted) in the Puyallup River basin |
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| Data | ||
| location | Pierce County / King County , Washington , USA | |
| River system | Puyallup River | |
| Drain over | Puyallup River → Puget Sound | |
| Source on Mount Rainier | Emmons Glacier 46 ° 53 ′ 7 ″ N , 121 ° 40 ′ 24 ″ W |
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| Source height | 1540 m | |
| muzzle | Puyallup River Coordinates: 47 ° 11 '59 " N , 122 ° 15' 31" W 47 ° 11 '59 " N , 122 ° 15' 31" W. |
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| Mouth height | 8.8 m | |
| Height difference | 1,531.2 m | |
| Bottom slope | 12 ‰ | |
| length | 123 km | |
| Catchment area | 1279 km² | |
| Drain at Buckley gauge |
NNQ MNQ MHQ |
2 m³ / s 41 m³ / s 481 m³ / s |
| Left tributaries | West Fork White River, Clearwater River | |
| Right tributaries | Greenwater River | |
| Medium-sized cities | Auburn | |
| Small towns | Buckley | |
 Emmons Glacier (left) on the northeast side of Mount Rainier, the source of the White River (bottom left) |
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The White River is a whitewater river of glacial origin in Pierce and King Counties in Washington State . It flows over 121 km from its source, the Emmons Glacier on Mount Rainier, to the Puyallup River in Sumner . It forms part of the border between the King and Pierce Counties.
A second White River has its source in the Glacier Peak Wilderness and flows southeast to Lake Wenatchee .
course
The source of the White River is the Emmons Glacier on the northeast side of Mount Rainier. The river has its source in ice caves at the foot of the glacier. Its upper course lies within the Mount Rainier National Park . Shortly after exiting the Emmons Glacier, the White River flows generally eastward to the White River Campground, then to the White River Ranger Station , and then turns north. The river is accompanied for much of its upper reaches by Washington State Route 410 , called the Mather Memorial Parkway in National Park . After several miles, the river leaves Mount Rainier National Park and enters Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest .
The river gradually turns westward and passes several campsites in the National Forest. The Huckleberry Creek flows into it immediately below the Dalles Campground . Several miles downstream flows one of its main tributaries, the West Fork White River , which also has its source on a glacier in Mount Rainier National Park , namely the Winthrop Glacier . A few miles downstream from the mouth of the West Fork , another major tributary reaches the White River, the Greenwater River . The small settlement of Greenwater lies at this estuary.
Below Greenwater, the White River basically flows west. It passes Federation Forest State Park and is then reinforced by another tributary, the Clearwater River . Several miles downstream from there, the White River is dammed by the Mud Mountain Dam , which forms a swampy lake with a rapidly changing water level, the Mud Mountain Lake . The dam was built to control floods. The Mud Mountain Lake fills up only during extreme flood events.
Below the Mud Mountain Dam , the White River reaches the larger metropolitan area of Tacoma . It flows between the towns of Buckley and Enumclaw . Then he makes a wide arc to the northwest, then to the southwest and finally around Lake Tapps . North of the lake, the White River flows through the Muckleshoot Indian Reservation . Below that, to the west of Lake Tapps , the White River reaches a wide flood plain and flows past the city of Pacific , before flowing into the Puyallup River at Sumner.
Lake Tapps is a reservoir built in 1911 for use in hydropower. A tipping structure directs part of the water from the White River via a channel, a canal and a pipeline into Lake Tapps . A drainage channel on the west side of the lake guides the water through the turbines of the Dieringer Powerhouse ; then the water is returned to the lower White River (or Stuck River , as it is called in this area) via the Dieringer Tailrace .
Flow regulations
Before 1906 the White River flowed into the Green River near Auburn and the river reached (under the name "White River") at Tukwila the Black River to form the Duwamish River , which flows into the Puget Sound near Seattle . A strong flood, coupled with a huge dam made of wood and rubble, led the White River south in 1906 into the Stuck River and then into the Puyallup River, which flows into the Puget Sound near Tacoma. The barrier made of wood and rubble was replaced by a permanent wall, so that the White River remains a tributary of the Puyallup River today.
In the late 19th century, farmers along the White River suffered near-annual floods. At times, the farmers wanted to divert the river into different channels with the help of dynamite. In 1899 such a blast failed and resulted in much of the White River flowing over the Stuck River and then into the Puyallup River. The blasting of canals continued until the flood of the century in 1906, which ended the drainage of the White River via the Stuck River. Because of the flood risk, this discharge was undesirable on the part of Pierce County, which requested King County to divert the White River back into the Stuck River. The strenuous process lasted until 1913, when the counties reached an agreement. Pierce County would keep the White River, but King County would cover 60% of the cost of flood control. Dams, levees and barriers were built along the White River in hopes of avoiding another flood of the century; but in 1933 a flood inundated the region. The two counties realized they would not be able to tame the river and turned to the federal government. The result was the construction of the Mud Mountain Dam .
The Mud Mountain Dam , built for flood protection purposes by the United States Army Corps of Engineers , was completed in 1948. The dam blocks the migration of anadromous fish , so a "trap and haul" system is used in which the fish are caught and trucked around the dam. After the construction of the Mud Mountain Dam , the farmers on the lower White River were freed from the previously almost constant fear of flooding.
In 1911 a separating dam was built near Buckley, which, together with a system of culverts , created a larger reservoir in the area around the originally small Lake Tapps . Over the years a small community on the lake developed. The water from the reservoir is returned to the White River about 32 km below the Scheidedamm. Ownership and operations have been transferred to Puget Sound Energy (PSE), a regional utility company. PSE recently sold the lake to the Cascade Water Alliance (CWA). The CWA is currently investigating the environmental conditions and thus examining the suitability of the lake as a source of drinking water. The lake was also the focus of investigations into the water quality in a planning process called "White River Basin Plan" by Pierce County, which is currently being finalized.
nature
The White River and its tributaries are home to several salmon-like habitats, including king salmon , pink salmon , ketal salmon, and silver salmon, as well as bull trout , rainbow trout , steelhead, and the coastal cutthroat trout . Humpback and ketal salmon dominate the hikes. Interestingly, sockeye salmon are also found in small numbers in the basin, although there are no larger natural lakes. The White River's silver salmon forms a mixed population of wild and nesting fish. The king salmon from the Puget Sound forms an "Evolutionarily Significant Unit" (2005), the steelhead trout a "Distinct Population Segment", a "distinguishable subpopulation" (2011), and the Puget Sound / Inshore bull trout is listed as Endangered by the Endangered Species Act .
history
The White River Valley was the site of violent clashes between Indians and military units from the Washington Territory and the United States Army during the Puget Sound War of 1855/56.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Google Earth elevation for GNIS coordinates.
- ↑ White River ( Memento of the original from November 20, 2002 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
- ^ A b c d White River Watershed Facts , King County.
- ^ Puyallup and White River Basins , Water Resource Data, Washington, 2005, USGS .
- ↑ Lake Wenatchee . In: Washington State Parks . Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. 2008. Archived from the original on May 9, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
- ↑ RA Kimbrough: Figure56. Location of surface-water stations in the Entiat, Wenatchee, and Sand Hollow River Basins. . In: Water Resources Data-Washington Water Year 2005 . US Geological Survey. March 23, 2006.
- ↑ General historical data from Washington Road & Recreation Atlas . Benchmark Maps, 2000.
- ↑ a b Mud Mountain Dam , HistoryLink.
- ^ 5-Year Review: Summary & Evaluation of Puget Sound Chinook, Hood Canal Summer Chum, Puget Sound Steelhead . National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 2011. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
