Skokomish River
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Skokomish River | |
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| Origin | Mount Skokomish, Olympic Mountains |
| Mouth | Hood Canal |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Length | 69 km (43 mi) |
| Mouth elevation | sea level |
| Avg. discharge | 34.3 m³/s (1,212 ft³/s) |
| Basin area | 588 km² (227 mi²) |
The Skokomish River is a river in Washington, United States.
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[edit] Geography
The Skokomish River originates by draining the southeast corner of the Olympic Mountains in Mason County. It flows southeasterly entering Hood Canal, a fjord of Puget Sound) near the town of Union, Washington. Lake Cushman and Lake Kokanee are maintained by Cushman Dam No. 1 and Cushman Dam No. 2 respectively on the Skokomish River. The confluence of the two branches of the Skokomish River — the North and South Forks — occurs very near Hood Canal. The North Fork is almost totally diverted through Cushman Dam.
[edit] History
Prior to the construction of the Cushman Hydroelectric Project, the Skokomish River was once Washington State's largest and most productive salmon-producing river.[1] Like most Pacific Northwest rivers, it was named after the native tribe who lived on it, whose name derives from the Salishan words skokom + ish = "brave" + "people" or "strong" + "people". It has the same meaning in the Chinook Jargon.
The South Fork drainage was heavily logged, although logging has been discontinued in National Forest land since the late 1980's.
[edit] Flooding
The Skokomish is the most flood-prone river in Washington State, as it is the first river to flood during any major rain event. [2] It set an all-time record-high flood level on December 3, 2007 when an intense tropical rainstorm moved in following several inches of snow from the day prior.[3] Its maximum discharge of 29,000 ft³/s, recorded on December 3, 2007 [4], was more than twenty times its mean flow, and bested its previous record set on November 5, 1934 at more than 27,000 ft³/s.
One notable flood in 1996 closed U.S. Route 101 and State Route 106 for four days, stranding a KOMO TV news crew from Seattle. Typically, these floods on the Skokomish spawn scores of Seattle TV news crews and print journalists to the scene, and is not unheard of for stories of Skokomish River floods by the media to include the joke "Why did the salmon cross the road?" [5]
The combination of extensive clearcut logging, the damming of the North Fork, and winter-weather rain patterns are the primary reasons for the flooding that occurs almost every year on the South Fork. In late fall through early spring, storms often come from the southwest. These usually drop the most rain in the vicinity of the Skokomish River due to the topography of the Olympic Peninsula.[6]
[edit] External links
- Salmon, Tribes, and Hydropower Dams in the U.S. Puget Sound
- Cushman Hydro Project Statistics
- Skokomish River Basin, USGS
[edit] References
- ^ Lansing, Steve. Skokomish: The Value of a River. Resources for Ecological Anthropology. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
- ^ An Overview of Washington's Skokomish River. The Wilderness Society. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.. See also, Skokomish Watershed Action Team. Red Lodge Clearinghouse Story Profiles (November 2006). Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
- ^ Flood waters recede, revealing devastating loss. KOMOTV.com (2007-12-06). Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
- ^ USGS 12061500 SKOKOMISH RIVER NEAR POTLATCH, WA. USGS National Water Information System: Web Interface (2007-12-06). Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
- ^ Soltes, Harley (2001-11-16). Why did the salmon cross the road?. The Seattle Times. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
- ^ McBee, Dave. Flooded by Greed. "Get Lost" magazine. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
