The Cowlitz River is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
in the state of
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, a
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...
of the
Columbia River. Its tributaries drain a large region including the slopes of
Mount Rainier,
Mount Adams, and
Mount St. Helens
Mount St. Helens (known as Lawetlat'la to the indigenous Cowlitz people, and Loowit or Louwala-Clough to the Klickitat) is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United St ...
.
The Cowlitz has a
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
, located between the
Cascade Range in eastern
Lewis County, Washington
Lewis County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 82,149. The county seat is Chehalis, and its largest city is Centralia. Lewis County comprises the Centralia, WA Micropolitan Stati ...
and the cities of
Kelso and
Longview. The river is roughly long, not counting tributaries.
Major tributaries of the Cowlitz River include the
Cispus River
The Cispus River is about long and flows into the Cowlitz River at Lake Scanewa in the Cascade Range of Washington. Its tributaries drain most of south-central and southeastern Lewis County, extreme northeast Skamania County, and some of wester ...
and the
Toutle River
The Toutle River is a tributary of the Cowlitz River in the U.S. state of Washington. It rises in two forks merging near Toutle below Mount St. Helens and joins the Cowlitz near Castle Rock, upstream of the larger river's confluence with the C ...
, which was overtaken by volcanic mudflows (
lahars) during the
May 1980 eruption of
Mount St. Helens
Mount St. Helens (known as Lawetlat'la to the indigenous Cowlitz people, and Loowit or Louwala-Clough to the Klickitat) is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United St ...
.
When the
smelt
Smelt may refer to:
* Smelting, chemical process
* The common name of various fish:
** Smelt (fish), a family of small fish, Osmeridae
** Australian smelt in the family Retropinnidae and species ''Retropinna semoni''
** Big-scale sand smelt ''Ath ...
spawn in the Cowlitz River, the
gull
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century ...
s go into a feeding frenzy that lasts for weeks. Kelso, Washington is known as the "Smelt Capital of the World".
Dams
The Cowlitz River has three major
hydroelectric dams
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
, with several small-scale
hydropower
Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a w ...
and sediment retention structures within the Cowlitz Basin.
The
Cowlitz Falls Project is a 70
megawatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...
hydroelectric dam built in the early 1990s and completed in 1994. The dam is high and wide. The Cowlitz Falls Project produces on average 260
GWh annually for
Lewis County PUD. Its reservoir,
Lake Scanewa, is located at the confluence of the Cowlitz and Cispus Rivers downstream of
Randle Randle, as a surname or a given name, may refer to:
Surname:
* Betsy Randle (born 1955), American actress
* Bill Randle (1923–2004), American disc jockey, lawyer and university professor
* Brian Randle (born 1985), American NBA coach and basketba ...
.
Mossyrock Dam
Mossyrock Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Cowlitz River near Mossyrock in Lewis County, Washington. The reservoir created by the dam is called Riffe Lake and the primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric production while flood con ...
began generating power for
Tacoma City Light in 1968. It rises from bedrock and created the long
Riffe Lake (previously Davisson Reservoir). It is the highest dam in the Pacific Northwest.
Cowlitz River Project
, Tacoma Power The dam is named for the nearby city of Mossyrock, and the lake for the town of Riffe, which, along with Kosmos, was destroyed by the flooding of the Cowlitz River valley above the dam.
The Mayfield Dam is long and high. An tunnel connects the reservoir to the powerhouse. The dam began producing electricity in 1963. Mayfield Lake offers many recreational opportunities: there are several county and state parks and the lake is below the Mossyrock Dam. The modulated inflow from the Mossyrock Dam allows Mayfield Lake to maintain a water level that rarely fluctuates more than a few feet. It is located several miles downstream of Mossyrock.
Packwood Lake
Packwood Lake is a freshwater lake in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in the Cascade Mountains of Washington. It is located near the town of Packwood and is a popular day hiking and overnight camping area. The southern half of the lake lies ...
was dammed in 1964 by the Washington Public Power Supply System (now called Energy Northwest). The dam holds back the lake (previously held back by an ancient landslide), redirecting streamflow to a 27 megawatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...
hydroelectric generator in the Cowlitz River valley floor 2,000 feet (600 m) below just outside the town of Packwood. When designing and building the dam, care was taken so as not to affect the abundant wildlife of the lake and surrounding area: the dam raised the water level by only a few feet.
A serious side effect of the Mount St. Helens
Mount St. Helens (known as Lawetlat'la to the indigenous Cowlitz people, and Loowit or Louwala-Clough to the Klickitat) is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United St ...
1980 eruption has been the downstream movement of enormous amounts of sediment through the North Fork Toutle River
The North Fork Toutle River is a tributary of the Toutle River in southwestern Washington in the United States. The river has its headwaters near Spirit Lake, on the north side of Mount St. Helens, and flows to the Toutle River, about upstrea ...
. After the eruption, river-borne sediment increased over five thousand-fold, making the Toutle River one of the most sediment-laden rivers in the world. The Toutle River Sediment Retention Structure was constructed to trap this sediment before it was carried farther downstream, where it could clog the river channel, exacerbate floods along the lower Toutle and Cowlitz Rivers, and fill the Columbia River shipping channel, which still requires periodic dredging. An overflow channel has been added to divert lahars around the dam.
Bridges
Numerous road and rail bridges span the Cowlitz.
Just upstream from its mouth at the Columbia river, a railroad bridge connecting the Port of Longview to the BNSF
BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...
rail line crosses the Cowlitz, with a road bridge for SR 432 (Tennant Way) beside.
Further upstream are the Allen St. and Cowlitz Way bridges, connecting West Kelso with the rest of Kelso. Just north of Kelso, a railroad bridge provides crossing for the Columbia & Cowlitz Railroad.
Connecting SR 411 to Interstate-5 is the Lexington bridge, a two-lane bridge between the large unincorporated community of Lexington to Exit 42 on the east side of the bank.
At Castle Rock, the A St. bridge provides access from downtown to the school and residential areas across the river. A few miles north, after the Toutle River split, the BNSF line crosses the river.
Across the Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
/ Cowlitz County line, between the towns of Vader and Toledo, Washington
Toledo is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 631 at the 2020 census.
History
Toledo was officially incorporated on October 10, 1892. Toledo was named by Celeste Rochon after a pioneer side wheel paddle steamer ...
, I-5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...
crosses the river. At Toledo, SR-505 crosses the river as well.
Where Highway 12 crosses Mayfield Lake, just west of Mossyrock, causeways were built out to the middle of the lake, where a short bridge section connects the two sides. A small bridge provides a crossing for SR 122 at the head of Mayfield Lake. Just east of Mossyrock, the Cowlitz River Bridge on Highway 12 was the largest concrete arch bridge in North America until 1971 at .
At the head of Riffe Lake, the 27 Road provides access to the forestland south of the Cowlitz from Morton Morton may refer to:
People
* Morton (surname)
* Morton (given name)
Fictional
* Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3''
* A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise
* A character in the 2008 film '' Horton H ...
and Glenoma to the north.
At Randle Randle, as a surname or a given name, may refer to:
Surname:
* Betsy Randle (born 1955), American actress
* Bill Randle (1923–2004), American disc jockey, lawyer and university professor
* Brian Randle (born 1985), American NBA coach and basketba ...
, SR 131 crosses the Cowlitz to provide access to the Cispus basin and the northern areas of the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is a U.S. National Monument that includes the area around Mount St. Helens in Washington. It was established on August 27, 1982, by U.S. President Ronald Reagan, following the 1980 eruption. The 110,0 ...
.
Between Randle and Packwood, Highway 12 crosses the Cowlitz at the Cora bridge.
At Packwood, Skate Creek Road spans the river, providing access to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Gifford Pinchot National Forest is a National Forest located in southern Washington, managed by the United States Forest Service. With an area of 1.32 million acres (5300 km2), it extends 116 km along the western slopes of Cascade Ran ...
and Tatoosh Wilderness, as well as connecting the downtown and residential areas of Packwood.
Upstream from Packwood, the Cowlitz splits into the Muddy and Clear Forks, with several Forest Service and Park Service roads crossing each.
Other river structures
When the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery began operation in 1968, it was the largest of its kind in the world. Currently, it produces nearly 13 million fish each year. Adjacent is the barrier dam, which diverts spawning and upriver migrating fish to a separating station where fish are sorted by species. Some of the fish are used by the hatchery while others are transported upstream to continue migration.
The Bonneville Power Administration
The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is an American federal agency operating in the Pacific Northwest. BPA was created by an act of Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Bonneville Dam located on the Columbia River and to cons ...
, in cooperation with the Lewis County PUD, state and federal agencies and Tacoma Power, constructed a downstream anadromous fish collection facility as part of the Cowlitz Falls Project. The fish facility, along with the Cowlitz River Salmon Hatchery's diversion dam below Mayfield Lake, has permitted the reintroduction of salmon and steelhead in the upper Cowlitz River basin for the first time since the construction of the Mossyrock and Mayfield dams in the 1960s.
Main tributaries
* Ohanapecosh River
The Ohanapecosh River ( ) (spelled as áwxanapayk-ash in the language of the Yakima Nation and Cowlitz Tribe) is a river in the U.S. state of Washington.
It is the main headwater tributary of the Cowlitz River, which begins at the confluence of ...
* Lake Creek
* Johnson Creek
* Cispus River
The Cispus River is about long and flows into the Cowlitz River at Lake Scanewa in the Cascade Range of Washington. Its tributaries drain most of south-central and southeastern Lewis County, extreme northeast Skamania County, and some of wester ...
* Tilton River
The Tilton River is a tributary of the Cowlitz River, in the U.S. state of Washington. Named for territorial surveyor James Tilton, it flows for about , entirely within Lewis County.
Course
The Tilton River originates in the Cascade Range just ...
* Sulphur Creek
* Winston Creek
* Lacamas Creek
* Olequa Creek
* Toutle River
The Toutle River is a tributary of the Cowlitz River in the U.S. state of Washington. It rises in two forks merging near Toutle below Mount St. Helens and joins the Cowlitz near Castle Rock, upstream of the larger river's confluence with the C ...
* Coweeman River
Recreation
The Cowliz River's two hatcheries provide an exceptional sportfishing opportunity for recreational anglers in Washington and Oregon. The river consistently ranks as one of the states top ten steelhead and salmon producers.
See also
*List of rivers of Washington
This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of Washington.
By drainage basin
This list is arranged by drainage basin. Respective tributaries are indented under each larger stream's name and are ordered downstream to upstream.
Fraser River (Britis ...
*Tributaries of the Columbia River
Tributaries and sub-tributaries are hierarchically listed in order from the mouth of the Columbia River upstream. Major dams and reservoir lakes are also noted.
List of major tributaries
The main river and tributaries are (sorted in order from ...
References
External links
USGS Cowlitz River Basin map
energy-northwest.com
The Army Corps of Engineers' Mt. St. Helens Sediment Retention Structure
{{authority control
Rivers of Washington (state)
Tributaries of the Columbia River
Rivers of Cowlitz County, Washington
Rivers of Lewis County, Washington
Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Mount Rainier