| Pend Oreille River | |
| Pend d'Oreille River | |
| River | |
| Countries | United States, Canada |
|---|---|
| States | Washington, Idaho |
| Province | British Columbia |
| Tributaries | |
| - right | Clark Fork, Pack River, Priest River |
| City | Sandpoint, ID |
| Source | Lake Pend Oreille |
| - elevation | 2,064 ft (629 m) [1] |
| - coordinates | 48°15′30″N 116°32′4″W / 48.25833°N 116.53444°W [2] |
| Mouth | Columbia River |
| - elevation | 1,371 ft (418 m) [3] |
| - coordinates | 49°15′0″N 117°37′10″W / 49.25°N 117.61944°W [4] |
| Length | 130 mi (209 km) [5] |
| Basin | 25,792 sq mi (66,800 km2) [6] |
| Discharge | for Canada–United States border, 16.1 miles (25.9 km) from mouth |
| - average | 26,430 cu ft/s (748 m3/s) [7] |
| - max | 171,300 cu ft/s (4,851 m3/s) |
| - min | 0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s) |
 Map of the Pend Oreille River and its main tributaries.
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The Pend Oreille River is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately 130 miles (209 km) long, in northern Idaho and northeastern Washington in the United States, as well as southeastern British Columbia in Canada. In its passage through British Columbia its name is spelled Pend d'Oreille River. It drains a scenic area of the Rocky Mountains along the U.S.-Canada border on the east side of the Columbia. The river is sometimes defined as the lower part of the Clark Fork, which rises in western Montana. The river drains an area of 66,800 square kilometres (25,792 sq mi),[6] mostly through the Clark Fork and its tributaries in western Montana and including a portion of the Flathead River in southeastern British Columbia. The full drainage basin of the river and its tributaries accounts for 43% of the entire Columbia River Basin above the confluence with the Columbia.[8]
Contents |
Course
Above Lake Pend Oreille, the river's drainage basin consists primarily of the Clark Fork River and its major tributary, the Flathead River. The upper watershed is bordered by the Continental Divide, and includes portions of the US states of Idaho and Montana and the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Flathead flows west and south from the Rocky Mountains into the Clark Fork, which flows generally northwest. Major cities in the upper watershed include Columbia Falls, Missoula and Butte.
The Pend Oreille River begins at Lake Pend Oreille in Bonner County, Idaho in the Idaho Panhandle, draining the lake from its western end near Sandpoint (The Clark Fork River enters the lake from its eastern end). It flows west, receiving the Priest River from the north at the town of Priest River, then flows into southern Pend Oreille County in northeastern Washington at Newport. Once in Washington it turns north, flowing along the eastern side of the Selkirk Mountains. It flows roughly parallel to the Idaho border for approximately 50 miles (80 km), through the Colville National Forest, past Tiger and Metaline Falls. It crosses the international border into southeastern British Columbia, looping west for about 15 miles (24 km) and joining the Columbia from the east, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the international border and approximately 5 miles (8 km) south of Montrose.
Dams
There are five dams on the Pend Oreille River: Waneta (owned by Teck Cominco) and Seven Mile (B.C. Hydro) dams in Canada, Boundary (Seattle City Light), Box Canyon (Pend Oreille County PUD), and Albeni Falls (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) dams in the United States. None provide for fish passage.
Names
Variant names, according to the USGS, include: Bitter Root River, Bitterroot River, Clark Fork, Clarke Fork, Clarkes Fork, Clarks Fork, Deer Lodge River, Hell Gate River, Missoula River, Pend d'Oreille River, Silver Bow River, Clark's Fork, and Pend-d'Oreille River.
Conservation
- Pend Orielle Basin Commission formed to oversee any issues relating to water quality and/or water quantity in Lake Pend Oreille, Pend Oreille River, Priest Lake and Priest River Basin
See also
- List of tributaries of the Columbia River
- List of rivers of Washington
- List of rivers of British Columbia
- List of rivers of Idaho
References
- ^ Google Earth elevation for GNIS source coordinates.
- ^ USGS GNIS: Pend Oreille River, USGS GNIS.
- ^ Google Earth elevation for mouth of Pend Oreille River.
- ^ Google Earth coordinates for mouth of Pend Oreille River.
- ^ Pend Oreille River, The Columbia Gazetteer of North America. 2000.
- ^ a b Seven Mile Project Water use Plan, BC Hydro
- ^ Water Data Report WA-05-1, chapter Pend Oreille, Kettle, and Colville River Basins, and the Columbia River from the International Boundary to the confluence with the Spokane River
- ^ Water Quality Assessment of Pend d'Oreille River at Waneta, Ministry of Environment, Canada
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