| Russian River (Ashokawna or Bidapte) | |
| Slavianka River | |
| River | |
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The mouth of the Russian River, north of San Francisco
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | California |
| Regions | Sonoma County, Mendocino County |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Mark West Creek, Maacama Creek, Green Valley Creek, Big Sulphur Creek |
| - right | Dry Creek, Austin Creek, Fife Creek |
| Cities | Ukiah, Healdsburg |
| Source | Laughlin Range |
| - location | 5 mi (8 km) east of Willits, California |
| - elevation | 1,960 ft (597 m) [1] |
| - coordinates | [2] |
| Mouth | Pacific Ocean |
| - location | Jenner, California |
| - elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| - coordinates | [2] |
| Length | 110 mi (177 km) [3] |
| Basin | 1,485 sq mi (3,846 km2) [3] |
| Discharge | for Guerneville |
| - average | 2,261 cu ft/s (64 m3/s) [4] |
| - max | 102,000 cu ft/s (2,888.3 m3/s) |
| - min | 0.75 cu ft/s (0 m3/s) |
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The Russian River, a southward-flowing river, drains 1,485 square miles (3,846 km2)[3] of Sonoma and Mendocino counties in Northern California. With an annual average discharge of approximately 1,600,000 acre feet (2.0 km3),[5] it is the second largest river (after the Sacramento River) flowing through the nine county Greater San Francisco Bay Area with a mainstem 110 miles (177 km.) long.
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The Russian River springs from the Laughlin Range about 5 mi (8 km) east of Willits in Mendocino County. It flows generally southward to Redwood Valley, then parallels U.S. Route 101 past Calpella, to join the East Fork Russian River just below Lake Mendocino.
From there the Russian River flows south, past Ukiah and Hopland, and crosses into Sonoma County just north of Cloverdale. Closely paralleled by U.S. Route 101, it descends into the Alexander Valley, where it is joined by Big Sulphur Creek. It flows south past Cloverdale, Asti, and Geyserville.
East of Healdsburg, Maacama Creek joins the Russian River. After a series of sweeping bends, the river flows under the Healdsburg Memorial Bridge and U.S. Route 101 and receives water from Lake Sonoma via Dry Creek. The river then turns westward and joins Mark West Creek north of Forestville. The river passes Rio Dell, Rio Nido, and Guerneville, where it meets State Route 116. Paralleled by State Route 116, it continues past Guernewood Park and Monte Rio. Austin Creek enters from the north before passing through Duncans Mills then the Russian River flows under State Route 1 and empties into the Pacific Ocean between Jenner and Goat Rock Beach. Russian River estuary is recognized for protection by the California Bays and Estuaries Policy.[6] Its mouth is about 60 mi (100 km) north of the San Francisco Bay's Golden Gate bridge.
The lower Russian River is a popular spring, summer, and fall destination for tourists as the river is very safe then for swimming and boating, with a gentle current. The river is dangerous in the winter, with swift current and muddy water.
The river was originally known among the Southern Pomo as Ashokawna (ʼaš:oʼkʰawna), "east water place" or "water to the east",[7] and as Bidapte, "big river".[8] In 1827 it was called the San Ygnacio by the Spanish,[9] and in 1843 Spanish land grant referred to it as Rio Grande.[10]
The river takes its current name from the Russian of the Russian-American Company who explored the river in the early 19th century, and established the Fort Ross colony 10 mi (16 km) northwest of its mouth. They called it the Slavianka River, which means "Slav woman".[9] The Russians established three ranches near Fort Ross, one of which, the Kostromitinov Ranch, was along the Russian River near the mouth of Willow Creek.[11] The redwoods that lined its banks drew loggers to the river in the late 19th century.
According to the USGS, variant names of the Russian River include Misallaako, Rio Ruso, Shabaikai, and Slavyanka.[2]
A portion of the Eel River is diverted to headwaters of the Russian River in Potter Valley. The Sonoma County Water Agency[12] draws drinking water from the Russian River for sale to residents of Sonoma, Mendocino, and northern Marin counties.[13] Santa Rosa's Laguna Wastewater Treatment Plant treats sewage from several communities to tertiary standards and returns some of it to the river by way of the Laguna de Santa Rosa.
Historically it is interesting as one of two Northern California coastal rivers mentioned in the early nineteenth century by Russian explorer K. T. Khlebnikov as hosting sturgeon, presumably White sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus), along with the Pajaro River.[14] Khlebnikov stated in his "1820 Travel Notes", "Mr. Kuskov had sent two baidarkas to the Slavianka River to catch sturgeon, and they returned today with ten fish...the largest one exceeding two arshins (4.67 feet) long".[15] Moyle's Inland Fishes of California states that there were historic runs of white, but not green, sturgeon in the Russian River.[16] White sturgeon are the largest freshwater fish in the United States.
The Russian River is the largest river in the Central California Coast Steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Distinct population segment. Natural waterfalls and the two major dams, Warm Springs (built in 1982) and Coyote (built in 1959), have isolated anadromous steelhead from its non-ocean going rainbow trout form above the impassable barriers. Recent genetic studies on steelhead collected at 20 different sites both above and below passage barriers in the watershed found that despite the fact that 30 million hatchery trout were stocked in the river from 1911 to 1925, the steelhead remain of native and not hatchery stock.[17]
Until recently, most reviews indicated that Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) were always scarce on the Russian River. However, in 2007, the Sonoma County Water Agency completed a comprehensive re-evaluation of historical records coupled with a 5-year monitoring program utilizing underwater cameras at two fish ladders just north of Forestville. They found that Chinook always were, and still are, "a relatively abundant, widely distributed, and naturally self-sustaining population". The authors found historic information dating to 1881 suggesting the presence of an ancestral population and their genetic analysis found the Chinook both above and below barriers to fish passage to be of native, and not hatchery stock.[18]
In 2001 the Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) had dwindled to less than four returning spawners per year. These low numbers were the catalyst for the Russian River Coho Salmon Captive Broodstock Program, a recovery effort in which offspring from hatchery-reared adults are released into the river system. In 2011, biologists estimate that more than 190 adult coho may have returned to the Russian River watershed, beginning with early storms in October and peaking in December.[19] High priority tributaries for restoration of stream flows and habitat for Coho include Dutch Bill, Grape, Green Valley, Mark West and Mill Creeks.[20]
Similarly, early twentieth century naturalists were skeptical that California Golden beaver (Castor canadensis subauratus) were extant in the coastal streams of the Bay Area.[21] However, the Russian-American Company's Ivan Kuskov sailed into Bodega Bay in 1809 on the Kodiak and, after exploring fifty miles of the Russian River, returned to Novo Arkhangelsk, Alaska (Sitka), with beaver skins and over 2,000 sea otter (Enhydra lutris) pelts.[22] In fact, the Russians' stated reason for establishing a settlement in Alta California was, "La Bodega, near San Francisco, was occupied by the Russians early in the year 1812, by permission of the Spanish government. The rich, fertile soil [and] the abundance of seal, otter and beaver were the principal factors which favored this colonization."[23] Before establishing a southern colony at Fort Ross, the Russian-American Company contracted with American ships beginning in 1810, providing them with Aleuts and their baidarkas (kayaks) to hunt otter on the coast of Spanish California.[24] Hudson's Bay Company's Alexander R. McLeod reported in 1829, "The Country to the northward of Bodega is said to be rich in Beaver and no encouragement given to the Indians to hunt."[25] However, by 1832-1833 John Work's Hudson's Bay Company expedition, after visiting Sonoma Mission and Fort Ross, searched the coast line to the north for furs as far as Cape Mendocino but found none.[26] Finally, the Southern Pomo, who inhabited the lower half of the Russian River, had a word for beaver ṱ’ek:e (N. ALexander Walker, personal communication, 2011-01-23) and beavers in their "Coyote Stories".[27] In 1881 the Sacramento Daily Union newspaper reported, "Beavers are being trapped near Healdsburg" (placing them on the Russian River).[28]
The Russian River State Marine Reserve and Russian River State Marine Conservation Area protect the Russian River Estuary. Like underwater parks, these marine protected areas help conserve ocean and freshwater wildlife and marine ecosystems.
The river's floodplain includes many vineyards, and an area of the Russian River Valley was approved as an American Viticultural Area in 1983 and enlarged in 2006.[29] It produces award-winning Chardonnay and Pinot noir wines in addition to other wine varietals, and is home to many small and several large commercial wineries.
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