John Day River
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| John Day River | |
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| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon |
| Length | 281 mi (452 km) [1] |
| Watershed | 5,090 sq mi (13,183 km²) [2] |
| Discharge at | Columbia River, east of Biggs, Oregon |
| - average | 1,160 cu ft/s (33 m³/s) [2] |
| - maximum | 40,200 cu ft/s (1,138 m³/s) |
| - minimum | 6 cu ft/s (0 m³/s) |
| Source | Strawberry Mountains |
| - location | Malheur National Forest, Grant County |
| - elevation | 9,000 ft (2,743 m) [3] |
| Mouth | Columbia River |
| - elevation | 265 ft (81 m) [3] |
| Major tributaries | |
| - left | South Fork John Day River |
| - right | North Fork John Day River |
- This article is about the John Day River in eastern Oregon. There is also the John Day River in northwestern Oregon.
The John Day River is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately 281 miles (452 km) long, in northeastern Oregon in the United States. Undammed along its entire length, the river is the second longest free-flowing river in the conterminous United States. There is extensive use of its waters for irrigation. Its free-flowing course furnishes habitat for diverse species, including wild steelhead runs. However, the steelhead populations are under federal endangered species protections, and chinook salmon have been proposed for ESA protection.
The river was named for John Day, a member of the Astor Expedition, an overland expedition to the mouth of the Columbia River that left from St. Louis, Missouri in 1810. Day wandered lost through this part of Oregon in the winter of 1811–12.
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[edit] Drainage basin
Through its tributaries, the river drains much of the western side of the Blue Mountains, flowing across the sparsely populated arid part of the state east of the Cascade Range in a northwest zigzag, then entering the Columbia upstream from the Columbia River Gorge. It flows through exceptionally scenic canyons in its upper course, with several significant paleontological sites along its banks.
The main branch of the John Day River rises in the Strawberry Mountains in eastern Grant County, and the four main forks each have their heads in different parts of the Malheur National Forest. The main fork flows initially north, then west through the John Day Valley and through the city of John Day. At Dayville in western Grant County it is joined from the south by the South Fork John Day River, then flows north through Picture Gorge and past the Sheep Rock Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.
At Kimberly in northwestern Grant County, it is joined from the east by the North Fork John Day River (which had already joined with the Middle Fork of the John Day River above Monument, Grant County, Oregon). The river then flows west across Wheeler County. At the county line with Jefferson County it flows north, past the Clarno Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. As it approaches the Columbia River in north-central Oregon it flows in an increasingly meandering course, forming the boundary between Sherman County to the west and Gilliam County to the east.
It joins the Columbia from the southeast approximately 16 miles (26 km) northeast of Biggs. The mouth of the river is on the narrow Lake Umatilla reservoir, formed on the Columbia by the John Day Dam, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) downstream from the mouth of the John Day.
[edit] Recreation and ecosystem
The John Day is navigable by rafts and other small river craft. Its lower course is used for irrigation of cropland and ranching. In 1988, the United States Congress designated 147.5 miles (237.4 km) of the river from Service Creek to Tumwater Falls as the John Day Wild and Scenic River, as part of the National Wild and Scenic River program. The segment of the river is a popular destination for anadromous steelhead and warm water bass fishing, as well as whitewater rafting.
In addition to wild spring chinook salmon and bass, the river furnishes habitat for redband trout, bull trout, and westslope cutthroat trout. There are no hatchery salmon or steelhead released in the John Day River.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ [1], John Day - Encyclopedia.com
- ^ a b National Water Information System, USGS
- ^ a b John Day River - Bureau of Land Management
