Yakima River
| Yakima River | ||
 Yakima River catchment area |
||
| Data | ||
| Water code | US : 1528343 | |
| location | Washington (USA) | |
| River system | Columbia River | |
| Drain over | Columbia River → Pacific Ocean | |
| origin |
Keechelus Lake 47 ° 19 ′ 20 ″ N , 121 ° 20 ′ 21 ″ W. |
|
| Source height | 768 m | |
| muzzle | at Richland in the Columbia River Coordinates: 46 ° 15 ′ 10 ″ N , 119 ° 13 ′ 51 ″ W 46 ° 15 ′ 10 ″ N , 119 ° 13 ′ 51 ″ W. |
|
| Mouth height | 104 m | |
| Height difference | 664 m | |
| Bottom slope | 2.1 ‰ | |
| length | 320 km | |
| Catchment area | 15,900 km² | |
| Drain at Kiona gauge, Washington |
MNQ MQ MHQ |
6 m³ / s 99 m³ / s 1682 m³ / s |
| Reservoirs flowed through | Keechelus Lake | |
| Medium-sized cities | Yakima , Richland | |
| Small towns | Ellensburg , Toppenish , Prosser | |
| Residents in the catchment area | 500000 | |
 Yakima River in Kittitas County |
||
The Yakima River is a river in the US state of Washington . It forms the drain of Keechelus Lake in the Cascade Range and flows southeast to the Columbia River . The river is 320 km long, according to some sources even 344 km long.
geography
The origin of the Yakima River is Keechelus Lake , a reservoir in the Cascade Range. As an outflow from a reservoir, it forms a larger river from the start. In the upper reaches it is dammed up again to Lake Easton . It takes in several small, partly glacier-fed streams and several rivers such as the Cle Elum and the Teanaway . After about 80 kilometers of the river, he reaches the Kittalas Valley , which is transformed by the Yakima River into a green oasis populated by herds of cattle. After the Kittalas Valley, the river winds through the Yakima River Canyon and through grassy hills, eventually reaching the town of Yakima . Shortly before Yakima the river leaves the canyon, from the right the Naches River flows into it. The landscape along the river changes a lot, the river widens and flows along orchards and vineyards of the Yakima Valley AVA . The Yakima slowly flows through its valley to its confluence with the Columbia River at Richland .
history
The region was inhabited by Native Americans who now form the Yakama . The Indians lived in large villages. The largest village with an estimated 3000 inhabitants was on the site of today's Yakima, as there is a large floodplain. The first Christian missionaries reached the region in 1848, and in 1855 the Yakama Reservation was established, where the Indians were to live as sedentary farmers. White settlers settled along the Yakima River and used its water for irrigation. The construction of the Northern Railway through the valley from 1886 resulted in an expansion of agriculture and thus of the irrigated areas. In 1902 almost 490 km² of land was irrigated, so that parts of the river fell dry in years with little rain. In 1905 a state irrigation program was started, which is still used today for efficient agriculture.
environment
The Yakima River has its source in the rain-rich southeastern cascade chain and flows into the dry interior of Washington. While the upper course flows through areas densely forested with Douglas fir , larch and yellow pines , the vegetation changes from the Bristol Canyon northwest of Ellensburg into a steppe of sagebrush and other shrubs. Hawks and eagles nest on the cliffs in Yakima Canyon. The endemic basalt daisy only grows in the canyon of the Yakima River and its tributaries.
The increasing water consumption for households, fishing, agriculture, industry and leisure is affecting the water table in the Yakima Basin. Due to the extensive agricultural irrigation, the water quality of the Yakima River is polluted and fish migrations have been significantly reduced.
Sights and buildings
From Yakima to Ellensburg the river flows between basalt cliffs and desert hills, about 24 kilometers of which through the Yakima River Canyon with basalt rocks up to 600 meters high. Highway 821 runs parallel to the river as a toll state scenic route through the canyon. In 1992 the Nature Conservancy acquired 158 hectares of land in the Yakima River Canyon. Much of it transferred to the Bureau of Land Management , which manages it under the Canyon River Management Plan . The remaining 42 hectares have been the Yakima River Preserve since 1993 . The protected area of the Bureau of Land Management now covers over 36 km². The sanctuary includes the basalt cliffs, grasslands on the river and an island in the middle of the Yakima River.
Yakima Project
The 1905 launched Yakima Project of the Bureau of Reclamation is a government irrigation program that allows a 280 km and 1,900 sq km large strip of fertile lands along the Yakima River is irrigated. The program includes the large Bumping Lake , Clear Creek and Tieton dams in the Snoqualmie National Forest and the Cle Elum , Kachess and Keechelus Dam in the Wenatchee National Forest . In the course of the Yakima river, other dams such as the Roza Diversion Dam , numerous irrigation canals, pumping stations and two hydroelectric power stations are part of the irrigation program. The reservoirs were expanded and the irrigated area increased until the 1980s. The dams also serve to protect against flooding, the energy generated by the hydropower plants is largely used to operate the irrigation pumps. In 1994 the protection of fish and wild animals was declared a project goal.
economy
The Yakima Project is intensively irrigating around 1900 km² of land in the Yakima River Basin, making the basin one of the most irrigated areas in the United States. Apples, cherries and other types of fruit are grown, as well as hops, asparagus and Lucerne , and wine is increasingly being grown. The foothills are grazing land for cattle. The Yakima River Canyon is a popular fishing spot for trout.
literature
- Art Benke, Colbert E. Cushing, Arthur C. Benke (Eds.): Rivers of North America: The Natural History. Academic Press, Burlington 2005, ISBN 978-012088253-3
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ USGS - GNIS - Keechelus Lake
- ↑ USGS - GNIS - Yakima River
- ^ Britannica Online Encyclopaedia. Retrieved May 3, 2011 .
- ↑ USGS Real Time Water Data: Yakima River. Retrieved May 3, 2011 .
- ↑ USGS Real Time Water Data: Yakima River. Retrieved May 3, 2011 .
- ^ Rivers of North America, p. 610
- ^ The Nature Conservancy: Yakima River Canyon. Retrieved May 3, 2011 .
- ↑ Anglers Online - Great Rivers: Yakima. Retrieved May 3, 2011 .