Kettle River (Columbia River tributary)

Kettle River
Kettle River from railway trestle
Map of the Kettle River and its two main tributaries
Location
Country	United States, Canada
State	Washington
Province	British Columbia
City	Grand Forks, BC, Kettle Falls, WA
Physical characteristics
Source	Holmes Lake
• location	British Columbia, Canada 50°06′55″N 118°18′43″W / 50.11528°N 118.31194°W / 50.11528; -118.31194
• coordinates	50°06′55″N 118°18′43″W / 50.11528°N 118.31194°W / 50.11528; -118.31194
Mouth	Columbia River
• location	Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake, Washington (state)
• coordinates	48°40′22″N 118°6′50″W / 48.67278°N 118.11389°W / 48.67278; -118.11389[1]
• elevation	1,500 ft (460 m)[2]
Length	175 mi (282 km)[3]
Basin size	4,200 sq mi (11,000 km2)[4]
Discharge
• location	Laurier, WA
• average	2,906 cu ft/s (82.3 m3/s)
• minimum	70 cu ft/s (2.0 m3/s)
• maximum	35,000 cu ft/s (990 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Granby River
• right	West Kettle River, Rock Creek, Boundary Creek

The Kettle River is a 281-kilometre (175 mi) tributary of the Columbia River, encompassing a 10,877-square-kilometre (4,200 sq mi) drainage basin, of which 8,228 square kilometres (3,177 sq mi) are in southern British Columbia, Canada and 2,649 square kilometres (1,023 sq mi) in northeastern Washington, US.^[4]

Name

The indigenous name of the river in the Okanagan language is nxʷyaʔłpítkʷ (Ne-hoi-al-pit-kwu.^[1]) Although British officials used this name, Kettle River was in popular use by 1860. The most likely name origin is from the Kettle Falls, which early explorers called "La Chaudiére" ("The Boiler"), because of the effervescent water. A possible alternative is the round holes, shaped like cauldrons, which water had hollowed out in the rocks.^[5]

Course

From its source at the outlet of Holmes Lake^[6] in the Monashee Mountains of British Columbia, the Kettle River flows south to Midway, British Columbia. Along the way it is joined by many tributaries, most notably the West Kettle River. Below Midway, the river loops south, crossing the Canada–US border into the United States, through Ferry County, Washington, before flowing north back into Canada, passing by Grand Forks, British Columbia, where the Granby River joins. After flowing east for about 10 miles (16 km), the river turns south again, just south of Christina Lake,^[7] entering the United States again. It then flows south, forming part of the Ferry-Stevens County line, before joining the Columbia River near Kettle Falls, Washington. The Columbia River at this point is a large reservoir impounded behind Grand Coulee Dam, called Lake Roosevelt. The Kettle enters the lake at the Columbia's river mile 706.^[4] The Kettle River is undammed, making it one of the few rivers with constant flow in the Pacific Northwest.^{[citation needed]}

Natural history

The Kettle River once supported salmon and other anadromous fish. The construction of Grand Coulee Dam, along with Chief Joseph Dam, blocked fish migration up the Columbia and its upper tributaries, including the Kettle River. In addition, Grand Coulee Dam's reservoir, Lake Roosevelt, flooded traditional fishery sites, including Kettle Falls near the mouth of the Kettle River.^[4]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kettle River (Columbia River).

• Tributaries of the Columbia River
• List of rivers of British Columbia
• List of rivers in Washington
• Kettle River Range

References

This page was last edited on 2 November 2023, at 03:51