Green River (Washington)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Green River | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| State | Washington |
| County | King |
| Major cities | Kent, Auburn, Tukwila |
| Length | 65 mi (105 km) [1] |
| Watershed | 440 sq mi (1,140 km²) [2] |
| Discharge at | Auburn, Washington |
| - average | 1,316 cu ft/s (37 m³/s) [3] |
| - maximum | 28,100 cu ft/s (796 m³/s) |
| - minimum | 81 cu ft/s (2 m³/s) |
| Source | Cascade Range |
| - coordinates | [4] |
| - elevation | 3,283 ft (1,001 m) [5] |
| Duwamish River | |
| - coordinates | [6] |
| - elevation | 57 ft (17 m) [7] |
The Green River is a 65 mile long river in the state of Washington in the United States, arising on the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains south of I-90.
The upper Green River valley forms the western approach to Stampede Pass, and was once home to many small railroad and logging towns such as Weston, Lester, Green River Hot Springs, Nagrom, Maywood, Humphreys, Eagle Gorge, Lemolo, and Kanaskat. Shortly before World War One, the City of Tacoma, Washington, filed for water rights on the Green River. Today, much of the upper valley has become a gated water supply watershed for Tacoma and access is heavily restricted.
Between 1880 and 1888, the Northern Pacific Railway explored and surveyed the Green River. The railway inally constructing the first direct rail link across Washington's Cascade Range with the opening of their Stampede Tunnel in 1888.
The Green and White Rivers once met in downtown Auburn, Washington, but diversions circa 1900 forced the Green into a permanent northern route into the Duwamish River and thence Elliott Bay at Seattle. By contrast, the White was turned south at Auburn, flowing into the Puyallup River and later Commencement Bay in Tacoma.
Most of the river above and including Howard A. Hanson Reservoir are part of the Green River Watershed, which is closed to public access. West of the Green River Watershed at Kanaskat, the river passes through the Green River Gorge with cliffs rising sharply as much as 300 feet from the riverbed. Flaming Geyser State Park, Nolte State Park, and Kanaskat-Palmer State Park are located in this area.
Downstream from the Green River Gorge is the half-mile wide Green River Valley, where farmland has been protected from development. An attempt to locate a bike trail along the valley walls has encountered fierce resistance from farmers.[citation needed] As a result, bikes must share the road with autos as it winds through the pastoral landscape.
At Auburn, Washington, the Green River emerges from the Green River Valley and enters the much larger Kent Valley, which was created by glacial action during the Pleistocene ice ages, then filled in by river sediments and lahars from Mount Rainier. After flowing generally west from its source, at Auburn the river turns north, entering a zone of light-industrial and retail development. A public multiuse trail runs along the river through most of this valley.[8]
The Green River's name changes to Duwamish River where it once joined the Black River, just outside of Tukwila. (The Black River dried up when Lake Washington's water level fell with the opening of the Lake Washington Ship Canal.) The Duwamish empties into Elliott Bay in Seattle, Washington. Its industrialized estuary is known as the Duwamish Waterway.
The Green River is infamous as the location where the first victims of the serial killer Gary Leon Ridgway were found. Although only a few bodies were found in the river, because they were the first victims the unidentified killer was known as the "Green River Killer" until the arrest of Ridgway.[9]
[edit] See also
- Green River for other rivers and towns named Green River
[edit] References
- ^ USGS; USGS GNIS: Green River; retrieved April 20, 2007.
- ^ USGS; Water Data Report WA-05-1, file: Duwamish River Basin; retrieved April 20, 2007.
- ^ USGS; Water Data Report WA-05-1, file: Duwamish River Basin; retrieved April 20, 2007.
- ^ USGS; USGS GNIS: Green River; retrieved April 20, 2007.
- ^ Google Earth elevation for Green River source coordinates. Retrieved April 20, 2007.
- ^ USGS; USGS GNIS: Green River; retrieved April 20, 2007.
- ^ Google Earth elevation for Green River mouth coordinates. Retrieved April 20, 2007.
- ^ Green River Regional Trail.
- ^ Home of the Green River Killer Information Pages.
