Cedar River (Washington)

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River name:	Cedar River
State:	Washington
County:	King
Main tributary:	None
Tributary of:	None
Artificial lake(s):	Chester Morse Lake (formerly Cedar Lake)
Local watershed:	Cedar river
Greater watershed:	Puget Sound
Cities it flows through:	Maple Valley, Washington, Renton, Washington
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Some data, credit: U. S. Geological Survey

The 45 mile (72 km) long Cedar River is located in central western Washington, USA. It starts in the Cascade Mountains, and since 1912 has emptied into Lake Washington at Renton. (It had previously emptied into the Black River, but was diverted in hopes of avoiding another flood like the one that took place in 1911.) It flows generally east to west.

The Cedar River is associated with its aquifer, that flows underground, parallel to it. Several pumping stations can be seen near the river, drawing drinking water from this aquifer.

The Cedar River and its origin, Chester Morse Lake, are considered the Cedar River Watershed, a part of the larger Puget Sound Watershed. The Cedar River supplies much of Seattle with drinking water, and so the headwaters, including Chester Morse Lake, are illegal to visit.

Part of it is run by the Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) department along with the Tolt River Watershed. It supplies 70% of the drinking water used by the 1.3 million inhabitants in Seattle and the other neighboring communities SPU serves.