The Sumas 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 wate ...

in the

Fraser Lowland The Fraser Lowland is a landform and physiographic region in the Pacific Northwest of North America, shared between the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington. The region includes much of the Lower Mainland region o ...

and 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 drainage ...

of the

Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual d ...

system A system is a group of Interaction, interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment (systems), environment, is described by its boundaries, ...

, coursing across the

international border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

between the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and 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 sover ...

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 on ...

Course

The Sumas River originates in the

Sumas Mountain Sumas Mountain is a mountain located in Whatcom County, Washington, 15 miles northeast of Bellingham and southwest of Vedder Mountain. Located in the Skagit Range, the mountain is notable for its high biodiversity and year-round hiking trails. ...

(American Sumas) in

Whatcom County, Washington Whatcom County is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington, bordered by the Canadian Lower Mainland (the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Districts of British Columbia) to the north, Okanogan Coun ...

, with its

creeks draining the mountain's western and northern slopes. These

headwater The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

west of the mountain just north of

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

where the nearby

Nooksack River The Nooksack River is a river in western Whatcom County of the northwestern U.S. state of Washington, draining extensive valley systems within the North Cascades around Mount Shuksan, Mount Baker and the Twin Sisters, and a portion of Fraser Lo ...

exits the

Nooksack Valley The Nooksack Valley refers the collection of mountain valleys within the North Cascades centered around Mount Shuksan, Mount Baker and the Twin Sisters, formed by the catchments of the upper Nooksack River and its alpine tributaries (primarily the ...

, and the resultant river then flows north first past

Nooksack Nooksack ( Nooksack: ''Noxwsʼáʔaq'') or Nootsack may refer to: *Nooksack people, an American Indian tribe in Whatcom County, Washington **Nooksack language, the language of this tribe Places *Nooksack River, a river in Whatcom County, Washingto ...

before coursing generally northeast past the town of

Sumas Sumas () is a city in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. It had a population of 1,307 as of the 2010 census. Sumas is located adjacent to the Canada–U.S. border and borders the city of Abbotsford, British Columbia. The Sumas-Huntingd ...

(where it picks up Johnson Creek, the first of its only two left tributaries) and crosses the

Canada–United States border The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Can ...

. The Sumas River then runs further northeast, crosses the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...

near Kilgard (where it picks up Marshall Creek, the second of its only two left tributaries) and reaches the southeastern side of a mountain within the

Fraser Valley The Fraser Valley is a geographical region in southwestern British Columbia, Canada and northwestern Washington State. It starts just west of Hope in a narrow valley encompassing the Fraser River and ends at the Pacific Ocean stretching from the ...

known as the Canadian Sumas. It then flows along the mountain's base, draining a wide

flatland ''Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions'' is a satirical novella by the English schoolmaster Edwin Abbott Abbott, first published in 1884 by Seeley & Co. of London. Written pseudonymously by "A Square", the book used the fictional two-dime ...

on its right bank known as the

Sumas Prairie Sumas Prairie is a landform in British Columbia, Canada and the State of Washington, United States. Part of the Fraser Lowland, it was created by the draining of Sumas Lake early in the 20th Century, and extends from the Vedder Canal southwestwar ...

(where the

Sumas Lake Sumas () is a city in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. It had a population of 1,307 as of the 2010 census. Sumas is located adjacent to the Canada–U.S. border and borders the city of Abbotsford, British Columbia. The Sumas-Huntingd ...

used to exist), before joining the

Vedder River Vedder is a Dutch and Low German surname. ''Vedder'', related to Dutch ('father'), meant 'uncle' (father's or mother's brother) in Middle Dutch and Eastern dialects of Dutch. Notable people with the surname include: * Adam Swart Vedder (1834–190 ...

and emptying into the

around the mountain's northeastern tip.

History

The Sumas River used to flow into the

, a massive but shallow

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

surrounded by expansive

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s on the floodplain between the Canadian Sumas and

Vedder Mountain The Vedder Mountain is a branch of the Cascade Range in the Pacific Northwest, located at the southeastern edge of the Fraser Lowland in British Columbia, Canada, between the village of Yarrow and the village of Cultus Lake, extending from the Vedd ...

. After a devastating flood all over the Fraser basin in 1894, the lake was artificially drained in the 1920s via the construction of the Vedder Canal, leaving behind a vast

later known as the

, which is now traversed by the tributary Saar Creek and the namesaked Sumas Drainage Canal. Swift Creek, a tributary of the Sumas River, is contaminated with naturally occurring

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

-laden sediment from the slow-moving

Swift Creek Landslide The Swift Creek Landslide is an active, slow-moving landslide located in western Washington, USA, due east of Everson on Sumas Mountain. Asbestos laden sediment originating from the landslide has recently generated much interest in this area. Asbe ...

References

{{authority control Tributaries of the Fraser River Rivers of Washington (state) Rivers of the Lower Mainland International rivers of North America Rivers of Whatcom County, Washington

Course

History

See also

References