Crab Creek is a stream in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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 ...

. Named for the presence of crayfish, it is one of the few perennial streams in the Columbia Basin of central Washington, flowing from the northeastern

Columbia River Plateau The Columbia Plateau is a geologic and geographic region that lies across parts of the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. It is a wide flood basalt plateau between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains, cut through by the Columbi ...

, roughly east of Reardan, west-southwest to empty into the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

near the small town of Beverly. Its course exhibits many examples of the erosive powers of extremely large glacial

Missoula Floods The Missoula floods (also known as the Spokane floods or the Bretz floods or Bretz's floods) were cataclysmic glacial lake outburst floods that swept periodically across eastern Washington and down the Columbia River Gorge at the end of the las ...

of the late

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

, which scoured the region. In addition, Crab Creek and its region have been transformed by the large-scale irrigation of the Bureau of Reclamation's

Columbia Basin Project The Columbia Basin Project (or CBP) in Central Washington, United States, is the irrigation network that the Grand Coulee Dam makes possible. It is the largest water reclamation project in the United States, supplying irrigation water to over of ...

(CBP), which has raised water table levels, significantly extending the length of Crab Creek and created new lakes and streams. Crab Subbasin Plan
, Northwest Power and Conservation Council Crab Creek is long and drains a watershed in eastern

of . It is sometimes referred to as the "longest

ephemeral Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...

stream in North America".

Course

Crab Creek is sometimes separated into Upper Crab Creek, which runs from the creek's source to

Potholes Reservoir The Potholes Reservoir is part of the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project. It is formed by the O'Sullivan Dam and located in central Washington, in the United States. The reservoir is fed by water from Moses Lake, part of the Crab Creek basin. T ...

, and Lower Crab Creek, which runs from Potholes Reservoir to the Columbia River. Sometimes the stream is divided into three parts—Upper Crab Creek, from its source to Brook Lake, Middle Crab Creek, from Brook Lake to and including Potholes Reservoir; and Lower Crab Creek, from below Potholes Reservoir to the Columbia River. Upper Crab Creek was dry before the CBP and remains intermittent today. From its source near Reardan it flows generally southwest then west, collecting tributaries including Rock Creek, Coal Creek, Duck Creek, Canniwai Creek, and Wilson Creek. It empties into Brook Lake, located just south of

Billy Clapp Lake Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy (pygmy hippo), a pet of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge * Billy, a young ...

, an equalizing reservoir of the CBP created by

Pinto Dam Pinto Dam is a dam in Grant County, Washington. The dam was a project of the United States Bureau of Reclamation, completed from 1946 through 1948 as one element of the vast Columbia Basin Project for irrigation water storage, flood control, and h ...

. Crab Creek turns southward after Brook Lake. The CBP's East Low Canal, one of the projects main irrigation canals, crosses but does not mix waters with Crab Creek. At the city of

Moses Lake Moses Lake is a lake and reservoir along the course of Crab Creek, in Washington state, USA. Moses Lake is part of the Columbia River basin, as Crab Creek is a tributary of the Columbia River. Although originally a shallow natural lake, Moses ...

Crab Creek empties into the Parker Horn arm of

. Just before reaching the lake Crab Creek receives the waters of Rocky Coulee Wasteway, a mix of the intermittent Rocky Coulee Creek and irrigation runoff from the East Low Canal. Before the CBP there was no perennial flow between Brook Lake and Moses Lake. Only during periods of high water did Crab Creek flow through this area. Moses Lake empties into Potholes Reservoir, which feeds irrigation canals to the south. Below O'Sullivan Dam several springs renew Crab Creek, which flows southwest, then west. Below the community of Smyrna, Crab Creek meanders across a two mile-wide canyon, bounded on the south by

Saddle Mountains The Saddle Mountains consists of an upfolded anticline ridge of basalt in Grant County of central Washington state. The ridge, reaching to 2,700 feet, terminates in the east south of Othello, Washington near the foot of the Drumheller Channel ...

and on the north by the Royal Slope and containing portions of the

Columbia National Wildlife Refuge Columbia National Wildlife Refuge is a scenic mixture of rugged cliffs, canyons, lakes, and sagebrush grasslands. Formed by fire, ice, floods, and volcanic tempest, carved by periods of extreme violence of natural forces, the refuge lies in the m ...

, before emptying into the Columbia River.

Lakes

Before 1904, drifting sand dunes blocked Crab Creek below Moses Lake, the largest natural lake on the creek. The creek's water did not reach the Columbia River. A large flood in 1904 washed through the dunes, lowering the lake by eight feet. Before the 1904 flood Crab Creek and Moses Lake's connection to the Columbia was intermittent. Fish native to Moses Lake indicate some periods of connection before 1904. It is possible that sand dunes created Moses Lake by blocking Crab Creek. The Columbia Basin Project in central Washington changed the character of Crab Creek substantially. The Crab Creek irrigation-return drainage basin covers an irrigated area of 296 mi² (767 km²). A large

earthfill dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, ...

, the

O'Sullivan Dam O'Sullivan Dam (National ID # WA00268), one of the largest earthfill dams in the United States (200 ft/61 m high; 19,000 ft/5,791 m long; completed 1949), is on Crab Creek in the U.S. state of Washington, about 45 km south of Eph ...

(also referred to as the ''Potholes Dam'') was constructed from 1947 to 1949, forming Potholes Reservoir, which serves as a central point in the CBP for storage of irrigation water, natural runoff, and irrigation-return flow, allowing irrigation

water reuse Water reclamation (also called wastewater reuse, water reuse or water recycling) is the process of converting municipal wastewater (sewage) or industrial wastewater into water that can be reused for a variety of purposes. Types of reuse include: ...

throughout the southern CBP area. Potholes Reservoir releases water through canals and has no perennial outlet to Lower Crab Creek. Hence today the water in Lower Crab Creek comes from ground-water seepage from Potholes Reservoir and irrigation, from the Goose Lake Wasteway, and from tributary inflows downstream of the O'Sullivan Dam.Columbia Basin Project
, Bureau of Reclamation History Program Research on Historic Reclamation Projects The water table in this section is variable but generally high due to the low elevation and irrigation runoff. Many lakes, including Merry, Lenice and Nunally Lakes, drain into Crab Creek.

History

Since it is one of the few creeks in the region with reliable water,

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

and

Palouse The Palouse ( ) is a distinct geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of north central Idaho, southeastern Washington, and, by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. It is a major agricultural area, prima ...

Indigenous peoples utilized the area along Crab Creek to gather roots and other food. A main trail through the region followed the creek. Lt. Symons came past the mid-Crab Creek area while laying out the ''Military Wagon Road'' from

Fort Walla Walla Fort Walla Walla is a United States Army fort located in Walla Walla, Washington. The first Fort Walla Walla was established July 1856, by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Steptoe, 9th Infantry Regiment. A second Fort Walla Walla was occupied Septem ...

to Camp Chelan in 1879. The ''Old Wagon Road'' was established along the creek from

Waterville, Washington Waterville is a town in and the county seat of Douglas County, Washington, United States which is known for its wheat industry. As a part of Douglas County, it is part of the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metropolitan area. The population was 1,134 ...

Ritzville, Washington Ritzville () is a city in Adams County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,673 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Adams County. The city is part of the Othello, WA Micropolitan Area, which comprises all of Adams County, ...

in 1888. Washington history Prior to establishing irrigation, most of the areas along Upper Crab Creek were bunchgrass prairie, which was suited to range cattle and sheep. Crab Creek and tributary creeks provided water for the herds. Although a handful of ranchers ran herds, shipping their bunchgrass-fed beef to Montana by rail from towns like

Sprague Sprague may refer to: Places ;Canada * Sprague, Manitoba, a small town near the Minnesota/Manitoba border ;United States * Sprague, Alabama, Montgomery County, Alabama * Sprague, Connecticut * Sprague, Missouri * Sprague, Nebraska * Sprague ...

, settlement remained extremely sparse. One such example was George Lucas, an Irish emigrant, who was Adams County's first permanent white settler. He established a way-station and raised cattle and horses at Cow Creek along the road to

Fort Colville Fort Colville was a U.S. Army post in the Washington Territory located north of current Colville, Washington. During its existence from 1859 to 1882, it was called "Harney's Depot" and "Colville Depot" during the first two years, and finally " ...

in 1869.Adams County -- Thumbnail History
/ref> Lower Crab Creek provided the only available water in that shrub-steppe region and so became the nucleus of settlement. Ben and Sam Hutchinson built the first recorded cabin along Lower Crab Creek in 1884. Tom McManamon, a cattle rancher, arrived shortly thereafter, with the first homesteaders arriving in 1901 and the town of Othello being established in 1904. When the Bureau of Reclamation located district offices in Othello in 1947 and built the Columbia Irrigation Project, the nature of the until then sparsely populated country changed dramatically.

Geologic history

The Okanogan lobe of the Cordilleran Glacier moved down the

Okanogan River The Okanogan River (known as the Okanagan River in Canada) is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately 115 mi (185 km) long, in southern British Columbia and north central Washington. It drains a scenic plateau region called th ...

valley and blocked the ancient route of the

, backing up water to create Lake Spokane. As the Okanogan lobe grew the Columbia was rerouted into the

Grand Coulee Grand Coulee is an ancient river bed in the U.S. state of Washington. This National Natural Landmark stretches for about 60 miles (100 km) southwest from Grand Coulee Dam to Soap Lake, being bisected by Dry Falls into the Upper and Lower ...

. Flowing across the current Grand Coulee-

Dry Falls Dry Falls is a scalloped precipice with four major alcoves, in central Washington scablands. This cataract complex is on the opposite side of the Upper Grand Coulee from the Columbia River, and at the head of the Lower Grand Coulee, northern ...

region, the ice-age Columbia then entered the Quincy Basin near

Quincy, Washington Quincy is a city in Grant County, Washington, United States. The population was 7,543 at the 2020 census. History Geologic history Quincy lies atop a part of the Columbia River Basalt Group which is overlain by Pleistocene outburst flood dep ...

& joined Crab Creek at Moses Lake, following Crab Creek's course southward past the

Frenchman Hills The Frenchman Hills are hills in Grant County, Washington, United States of America. The high point is . They are an anticlinal fold in the northeastern part of the larger Yakima Fold Belt. They likely take their name for one of the first non-na ...

and turning west to run along the north face of the Saddle Mountains, there to rejoin the previous and modern course of the Columbia River just above the main water gap in the Saddle Mountains,

Sentinel Gap Sentinel Gap is a water gap formed by the Columbia River in the Saddle Mountains, near Mattawa, Washington, Mattawa in Washington (state), Washington state. The gap is "a water gap where erosion by the Columbia River was able to keep pace with fol ...

. During this period the Missoula Floods periodically discharged large volumes of water, some of which reached Upper Crab Creek by overtopping the divide between the Columbia drainage and the Crab Creek drainage, and some diverted into the Columbia River to enter Crab Creek at Moses Lake. As a result, substantial coulees and scablands were created in the Upper Crab Creek drainage, and the drainage below the Potholes Reservoir is overlarge (i.e., the channel sizes could contain a substantially larger river than currently flows there).

Recreation

Potholes State Park is a park on the shore of the Potholes Reservoir. It provides ready access to the

Drumheller Channels National Natural Landmark Drumheller Channels National Natural Landmark showcases the Drumheller Channels, which are the most significant example in the Columbia Plateau of basalt butte-and-basin Channeled Scablands. This National Natural Landmark is an extensively eroded ...

which lies just downstream of the O'Sullivan Dam. This

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best ...

is an extensively eroded

channeled scablands The Channeled Scablands are a relatively barren and soil-free region of interconnected relict and dry flood channels, coulees and cataracts eroded into Palouse loess and the typically flat-lying basalt flows that remain after cataclysmic floods ...

landscape, characterized by hundreds of isolated, steep-sided hills (buttes) surrounded by a braided network of numerous channels. All but the channel through which Crab Creek flows are currently dry. It is a classic example of the tremendous erosive powers of extremely large floods such as those that reformed the Columbia Plateau volcanic terrain during the late

glacial

.J Harlen Bretz, (1923), The Channeled Scabland of the Columbia Plateau. ''Journal of Geology'', v.31, p.617-649 Sentinel-Gap-from-north

There are five wildlife areas found along Crab Creek: * Crab Creek Wildlife Area runs from the Columbia River east along the north face of the

until

Othello, Washington Othello () is a city in Adams County, Washington, United States. The population was 7,364 at the 2010 census, a 26 percent increase from 2000. It is located in the heart of the Columbia Basin Project, approximately southwest of Spokane. T ...

. * Seep Lakes Wildlife Area is colocated with Drumheller Channels National Natural Landmark. * Potholes Wildlife Area is adjacent to Potholes Reservoir. * Gloyd Seeps Wildlife Area is north of Moses Lake. * North Columbia Basin Wildlife Area - Gloyd Seeps is north of Gloyd Seeps Wildlife Area

References