East Branch North Fork Feather River | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | California |
Region | East Branch North Fork Feather Watershed |
Physical characteristics | |
Source confluence | Indian & Spanish creeks |
• elevation | 2,893 ft (882 m) [1] [2] |
Mouth | North Fork Feather River |
• coordinates | 40°00′51″N121°13′32″W / 40.01417°N 121.22556°W Coordinates: 40°00′51″N121°13′32″W / 40.01417°N 121.22556°W |
• elevation | 2,274 ft (693 m) [3] |
Length | 18.1 mi (29.1 km) [4] |
Basin size | 1,010 sq mi (2,600 km2) [5] |
Discharge | |
• location | North Fork Feather River [6] |
• average | 1,039 cu ft/s (29.4 m3/s) [7] |
• minimum | 30.5 cu ft/s (0.86 m3/s) |
• maximum | 88,800 cu ft/s (2,510 m3/s) |
The East Branch North Fork Feather River is a left tributary of the North Fork Feather River in the northern Sierra Nevada, Plumas County, California. Primarily within the Plumas National Forest, its course extends from Paxton (north of Quincy) to Belden. [8]
The East Branch is formed by the confluence of Indian Creek and Spanish Creek just upstream of Paxton. Indian Creek and Spanish Creek drain an extensive watershed along about 46 miles (74 km) of the Sierra Crest in eastern Plumas County, along its border with Lassen County. Indian Creek is 47 miles (76 km) long, but is 71 miles (114 km) long measured to the head of its tributary Last Chance Creek. Spanish Creek, the smaller of the two, is about 28 miles (45 km) long.
From the confluence, the East Branch winds west for 18.1 miles (29.1 km) [4] through a steep and narrow canyon until its confluence with the North Fork near Belden, about 60 miles (97 km) northeast of Oroville. The river canyon is an important transportation corridor, forming route for SR 70, which parallels the north bank of the river, and for the Union Pacific Railroad's Feather River Route on the south bank. The Feather River Route was originally constructed between 1906 and 1909 while the highway was built in the 1920s.
There are several large alluvial valleys in the East Branch watershed. Indian Creek flows through Indian Valley, which includes the communities of Greenville and Taylorsville. Spanish Creek flows through the American Valley, which includes Quincy, the county seat of Plumas County. [9] Settlers drained the valley's wet meadows for cattle and hay production, and its stream channels are deeply incised (beavers were nearly eliminated). [8] [10]
The Feather River is the principal tributary of the Sacramento River, in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. The river's main stem is about 73 miles (117 km) long. Its length to its most distant headwater tributary is just over 210 miles (340 km). The main stem Feather River begins in Lake Oroville, where its four long tributary forks join together—the South Fork, Middle Fork, North Fork, and West Branch Feather Rivers. These and other tributaries drain part of the northern Sierra Nevada, and the extreme southern Cascades, as well as a small portion of the Sacramento Valley. The total drainage basin is about 6,200 square miles (16,000 km2), with approximately 3,604 square miles (9,330 km2) above Lake Oroville.
The Cosumnes River is a river in northern California in the United States. It rises on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada and flows approximately 52.5 miles (84.5 km) into the Central Valley, emptying into the Mokelumne River in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Lake Oroville is a reservoir formed by the Oroville Dam impounding the Feather River, located in Butte County, northern California. The lake is situated 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of the city of Oroville, within the Lake Oroville State Recreation Area, in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Known as the second-largest reservoir in California, Lake Oroville is treated as a keystone facility within the California State Water Project by storing water, providing flood control, recreation, freshwater releases assist in controlling the salinity intrusion into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and protecting fish and wildlife.
State Route 70 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California, connecting SR 99 north of Sacramento with U.S. Route 395 near Beckwourth Pass via the Feather River Canyon. Through the Feather River Canyon, from SR 149 to US 395, SR 70 is the Feather River Scenic Byway, a Forest Service Byway that parallels the ex-Western Pacific Railroad's Feather River Route.
Area code 530 is a California telephone area code in northeastern and Northern California.
The San Jacinto River is a 42-mile-long (68 km) river in Riverside County, California. The river's headwaters are in Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument. The lower portion of the 765-square-mile (1,980 km2) watershed is urban and agricultural land. As a partially endorheic watershed that is contiguous with other Great Basin watersheds, the western side of the San Jacinto Basin is a portion of the Great Basin Divide.
The North Fork Feather River is a watercourse of the northern Sierra Nevada in the U.S. state of California. It flows generally southwards from its headwaters near Lassen Peak to Lake Oroville, a reservoir formed by Oroville Dam in the foothills of the Sierra, where it runs into the Feather River. The river drains about 2,100 square miles (5,400 km2) of the western slope of the Sierras. By discharge, it is the largest tributary of the Feather.
The Middle Fork Feather River is a major river in Plumas and Butte Counties in the U.S. state of California. Nearly 100 miles (160 km) long, it drains about 1,062 square miles (2,750 km2) of the rugged northern Sierra Nevada range.
Las Plumas is a former settlement in Butte County, California.
The Middle Fork Eel River is a major tributary of the Eel River of northwestern California in the United States. It drains a rugged and sparsely populated region of the Yolla Bolly Mountains, part of the California Coast Range, in Trinity and Mendocino Counties. Its watershed comprises roughly 745 square miles (1,930 km2) of land, or 20% of the entire Eel River basin. The river provides groundwater recharge and is used for recreation and for industrial, agricultural and municipal water supply by residents.
The North Fork Eel River is the smallest of four major tributaries of the Eel River in northwestern California in the United States. It drains a rugged wilderness area of about 286 square miles (740 km2) in the California Coast Ranges, and flows through national forests for much of its length. Very few people inhabit the relatively pristine watershed of the river; there are no operational stream gauges and only one bridge that crosses the river, near the boundary between Trinity and Mendocino Counties.
Stony Creek is a 73.5-mile (118.3 km)-long seasonal river in Northern California. It is a tributary of the Sacramento River, draining a watershed of more than 700 square miles (1,800 km2) on the west side of the Sacramento Valley in Glenn, Colusa, Lake and Tehama Counties.
Red Clover Creek is a west-northwestward-flowing stream originating on Horton Ridge east of the Sierra Nevada crest in Plumas County, California, United States. It courses 27 miles (43 km) through Dotta Canyon and Red Clover Valley to its confluence with Last Chance Creek in Genesee Valley, just above its confluence with Indian Creek, which flows into the East Branch North Fork Feather River. The Red Clover Valley sits at an elevation of about 5,400 feet (1,600 m) and is located on the east side of the Sierra Nevada crest, approximately 60 miles (97 km) north of Truckee and 30 miles (48 km) east of Quincy.
The Feather Headwaters is the watershed of the Feather River above Lake Oroville, totaling 3,450 sq mi (8,900 km2). Subdivided into 3 watersheds, the North Fork Feather Watershed is 1,090 sq mi (2,800 km2)—including the West Branch drainage of about 282.5 sq mi (732 km2), the East Branch North Fork Feather Watershed is 1,010 sq mi (2,600 km2), and the Middle Fork Feather Watershed is 1,350 sq mi (3,500 km2)—including the South Fork drainage of about 132 sq mi (340 km2). Headwaters drainage is impaired by the Palermo Canal at Oroville Dam, the Hendricks Canal at the West Branch Feather River, and the Miners Ranch Canal at the South Fork's Ponderosa Reservoir. Additionally, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company releases Upper Feather water into the Hyatt Generating-Pumping Plant for hydroelectric generation during daily peak demand.
The East Fork Carson River is the largest tributary of the Carson River, flowing through California and Nevada in the western United States. The north-flowing river is 61 miles (98 km) long and drains a mostly rural, mountainous watershed of 392 square miles (1,020 km2).
The Upper North Fork Feather River Project is a hydroelectric scheme in the Sierra Nevada of California, within Lassen and Plumas Counties. The project consists of three dams, five power plants, and multiple conduits and tunnels in the headwaters of the North Fork Feather River, a major tributary of the Feather—Sacramento River systems. The total installed capacity is 362.3 megawatts (MW), producing an annual average of 1,171.9 gigawatt hours (GWh). The project is also contracted for the delivery of irrigation water between March 31 and October 31 of each year. The project is owned and operated by Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
Indian Creek is a major stream in the northern Sierra Nevada of Plumas County, California and is part of the Feather River system. The creek is 47 miles (76 km) long, flowing through a series of small towns and farming valleys in a rural, mountainous area.
Spanish Creek is a stream in the Sierra Nevada of Plumas County, California and is a tributary of the Feather River system. It flows east from headwaters in the Plumas National Forest, through Meadow Valley to Quincy where it traverses the American Valley. At the east end of the valley it turns north, flowing through a canyon towards Paxton where it joins with Indian Creek to form the East Branch North Fork Feather River.
Last Chance Creek is a major stream, 38 miles long, in Plumas County, California, United States and is part of the Feather River system. It originates near Meadow View Peak in the Diamond Mountains, part of the Sierra Nevada, in the Plumas National Forest about 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Doyle. It flows generally northwest through uninhabited National Forest lands then turns southwest, then due west at the confluence with Squaw Queen Creek. From there it flows west to join with Red Clover Creek, its main tributary, before emptying into Indian Creek east of Genesee. Indian Creek is a tributary of the East Branch of the North Fork Feather River.
Lights Creek is a 19-mile (31 km) long stream in Plumas County, California and is a tributary of Indian Creek, part of the Feather River watershed.
Two main watercourses, Spanish Creek and Greenhorn Creek, run through the [American] valley. They converge at the end of the valley and the combined flow merges further downstream with Indian Creek to form part of the East Branch of the North Fork of the Feather River.(p. 19)