Donner und Blitzen River

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Donner und Blitzen River

Origin	south and west of Steens Mountain
Mouth	Harney Lake
Length	approx. 60 miles (100 km)
Source elevation	6,480 ft (1,980 m)
Mouth elevation	4,080 ft (1,240 m)
Avg. discharge	May: 384 cu ft/s (10.9 m³/s) September: 42 cu ft/s (1.2 m³/s)^[1]
Basin area	200 sq mi (520 km²)^[1]

The Donner und Blitzen River is a river on the eastern Oregon high desert which drains a relatively arid basin, the southern portion of Harney Basin, from roughly 20 to 80 miles (30 to 130 km) south-southeast of Burns including Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Though much of its course is marsh, it offers scenic glaciated canyons, unique ecosystems, and exceptional wild trout fisheries.^[2]

It arises as an intermittent stream on the lower slopes west of Steens Mountain at the 6,480 feet (1,980 m) level at 42.5344° N 118.7367° W, roughly 80 miles (160 km) south-southeast of Burns and 11 miles (18 km) northwest of Alvord Lake. Numerous nearby springs create its tributaries including South Fork Blitzen River, Little Blitzen River, Big Indian Creek, Little Indian Creek, Fish Creek, Mud Creek, and Ankle Creek. It collects these and runs north or northwest descending rapidly to the plateau floor then turns northward to Malheur Lake which has no outlet. It does not pass through any cities, though it comes within two miles (3 km) of Frenchglen.

72.7 miles (117.0 km) of rivers in its basin were designated Wild and Scenic on October 28, 1988 and another 14.8 miles (23.8 km) were added October 30, 2000.^[3] The Oregon DEQ lists seven temperature impairments on the river system.^[4] The maximum recorded flow of 4,270 cubic feet per second (121 m³/s) occurred on April 26, 1978 and was extrapolated from a calibrated value of 1,900 cu ft/s (54 m³/s). The minimum recorded flow 4.2 cu ft/s (0.12 m³/s) occurred December 9, 1972 caused by widespread freezing.^[5]