The Taseko River or Dasiqox in the original
Chilcotin, is a tributary of
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, ...
's
Chilko River
The Chilko River is a river in the Chilcotin District of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, flowing northeast from Chilko Lake to the Chilcotin River. Its main tributary is the Taseko River.
The Chilko is the Chilcotin River's ma ...
, 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
Chilcotin River which joins the
Fraser Fraser may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands
Australia
* Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen
* Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal e ...
near the city of
Williams Lake.
The Taseko has its origins at
Taylor Pass in the heart of an alpine area known as the South Chilcotin. Taylor Pass connects with Slim Creek, a major tributary of Gun Creek, which feeds the
Bridge River
The Bridge River is an approximately long river in southern British Columbia. It flows south-east from the Coast Mountains. Until 1961, it was a major tributary of the Fraser River, entering that stream about six miles upstream from the town of ...
via
Carpenter Lake
Carpenter Lake, officially Carpenter Lake Reservoir, is the largest of the three reservoirs of the Bridge River Power Project, which is located in the mountains west of Lillooet, British Columbia. The lake is about 185 kilometres north of the pro ...
. From its source, it flows north then northwest before entering the south end of
Upper Taseko Lake next to the
Lord River, one of its major tributaries. The
Tchaikazan River, another large tributary, also joins the river via the Taseko Lakes, entering at the area that separates Upper and Lower Taseko Lake. At the outlet of the two Taseko Lakes the river issues onto the broad
Chilcotin Plateau
The Chilcotin Plateau is part of the Fraser Plateau, a major subdivision of the Interior Plateau of British Columbia. The Chilcotin Plateau is physically near-identical with the region of the same name, i.e. "the Chilcotin", which lies between t ...
. From source to Upper Taseko Lake, the Taseko is about 30 kilometres in length. From Lower Taseko Lake to the Taseko's confluence with the Chilko River is about 85 kilometres. Including the 25 kilometre length of both Taseko Lakes, the total length of the Taseko River is around 140 kilometres.
A proposed but temporarily shelved hydroelectric proposal would dam and divert the Taseko Lakes and divert the Taseko's flow into
Chilko Lake, from where another diversion would take the combined flow of the Chilko and Taseko Rivers and feed it into the coastal drainage of the Homathko River at
Tatlayoko Lake
Tatlayoko Lake is a lake on the Homathko River in the western Chilcotin District of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, located on a north-south axis just upstream of the entrance of the series of canyons of the Homathko, including ...
, which would also be dammed. Further dams in the Homathko's
Great Canyon are part of the proposal, which would flood key historic sites related to the
Chilcotin War
The Chilcotin War, the Chilcotin Uprising or the Bute Inlet Massacre was a confrontation in 1864 between members of the Tsilhqot'in (Chilcotin) people in British Columbia and white road construction workers. Fourteen men employed by Alfred Wadd ...
of 1864.
Name origin
Taseko derives from the
Chilcotin language
''Nenqayni Ch’ih'' (lit. "the Native way") (also Chilcotin, Tŝilhqotʹin, Tsilhqot’in, Tsilhqút’in) is a Northern Athabaskan language spoken in British Columbia by the Tsilhqot’in people.
The name ''Chilcotin'' is derived from the Ch ...
''"Dasiqox"'', which means "Mosquito River". The Taseko Lakes in that same language as ''"Dasiqox Biny"'', where "''Biny''" means lake and is a reference in the singular.
Tributaries
Upper reaches
* Granite Creek
* Powell Creek
Taseko Lakes
*
Lord River
*
Tchaikazan River
Lower reaches
* Beece Creek
* Elkin Creek
* Tete Angela Creek
See also
*
List of tributaries of the Fraser River
This is a partial listing of tributaries of the Fraser River. Tributaries and sub-tributaries are hierarchically listed in upstream order from the mouth of the Fraser River. The list may also include streams known as creeks and sloughs. Lakes are ...
*
Taseko Mountain
*
Nemaiah Valley, British Columbia
References
{{Reflist
Rivers of the Chilcotin
Tributaries of the Fraser River
Chilcotin Ranges
Cariboo Land District