Tualatin River
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| Tualatin River | |
|---|---|
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| Origin | Northern Oregon Coast Range |
| Mouth | Willamette River |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Length | 83 mi (134 km) |
| Source elevation | 450 ft (140 m) |
| Mouth elevation | 85.61 ft (26.09 m) above sea level |
| Avg. discharge | Annual at mouth: |
| Basin area | 706 sq mi (1,830 km²)[2] |
The Tualatin River is a tributary of the Willamette River located in Oregon in the United States. The river is approximately 83 miles (125 km) in length, and it drains a fertile farming region called the Tualatin Valley southwest and west of Portland at the northwest corner of the Willamette Valley. There are approximately 500,000 people residing on 15% of the land in the river's watershed.[3]
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[edit] Description
The river originates in the Northern Oregon Coast Range in southwestern Washington County near the town of Cherry Grove and flows northward, passing south of Forest Grove, then generally eastward, passing south of Hillsboro, then southeastward through the town of Tualatin. Its confluence with the Willamette River is located to the south of West Linn. The drainage area of the river is approximately 712 square miles with 27 creeks feeding into the Tualatin.[4] Its watershed is 15% urbanized, 35% agricultural, and 50% forested.[5]
The river drops 1,800 feet (550 m) in elevation during its first 12 miles (19 km) and then only an additional 250 feet (76 m) for the remainder of its course.[4] This creates a slow river for the majority of the course, creating problems with pollution.[4] Pollution reached a point that in 1989 local agencies were forced to begin cleaning up the river after the Tualatin failed water quality standards outlined in the Clean Water Act of 1972.[6] It was the first river in the state to fail overall pollution limits.[4]
The valley of the Tualatin was an important early farming region in the settlement of Oregon. The building of a plank road to the Tualatin Valley from Portland in 1860 is considered by historians to be one of the principal reasons for the rise of Portland as the dominant city in the region. The valley contains numerous natural wetlands, some of which have been designated the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, and others are protected at Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve.
The Tualatin River bears the name of a local Native American tribe that lived in the Tualatin river valley. Early settlers called it the Quality River.[7]
[edit] Tributaries
Its largest tributary, Dairy Creek, flows into the river from the north near Hillsboro. It receives Chicken Creek from the south near Sherwood.
Creeks flowing into the river:[8][9]
[edit] Right tributaries
- Roaring Creek
- Wapato Creek - Wapato Lake
- Christensen Creek
- Burris Creek
- McFee Creek
- Chicken Creek
- Rock Creek
- Saum Creek
- Athey Creek
[edit] Left tributaries
- Maple Creek
- Sunday Creek
- Lee Creek
- Scoggins Creek - Henry Hagg Lake
- O'Neil Creek
- Dilley Creek
- Carpenter Creek
- Gales Creek
- Dairy Creek
- Rock Creek
- Gordon Creek
- Butternut Creek
- Fanno Creek
- Wilson Creek
[edit] Settlements along the Tualatin River
- Cherry Grove
- Gaston
- Dilley
- Blooming
- Cornelius
- Hillsboro
- Farmington
- Scholls
- King City
- Tigard
- Tualatin
- Rivergrove
- Lake Oswego
- Shadowood
- West Linn (Willamette District)
[edit] Landforms along the Tualatin River
- Windy Point
- Hagerty Ridge
- Blind Cabin Ridge
- Mount Richmond
- Wiliams Canyon
- Patton Valley
- Chehalem Mountains
- Jackson Bottom
- Cooper Mountains
- Parrett Mountains
- Tualatin Plain
- Bull Mountain
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ USGS Surface-Water Annual Statistics for Oregon: USGS 14207501 TUALATIN R AT WEST LINN,OREG.+ OSWEGO CANAL. USGS. Retrieved on 2007-08-30.
- ^ USGS Surface-Water Annual Statistics for Oregon: USGS 14207500 TUALATIN RIVER AT WEST LINN, OR. USGS. Retrieved on 2007-08-30.
- ^ Tualatin Basin Information. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ a b c d Walth, Brent. Cleaner Tualatin faces new limits. The Oregonian, December 25, 1998.
- ^ Tualatin Watershed Council - Tualatin Basin Information. Tualatin Watershed Council. Retrieved on 2006-12-14.
- ^ Kohler, Vince. County joins large project to clean up Tualatin River. The Oregonian, September 1, 1989.
- ^ Joel Palmer, Palmer's Journal of Travels Over the Rocky Mountains, 1845–1846 (1847), Library of Congress catalog F592 .T54 vol. 30., pp. 168 (viewable online)
- ^ Tualatin River Watershed Council: Middle Tualatin – Rock Creek
- ^ Tualatin River Watershed Council: Lower Tualatin
