Powell River | |
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![]() The Powell River near Harrogate in Claiborne County, Tennessee | |
![]() The Powell drainage basin | |
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Virginia, Tennessee |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Indian Mountain in Wise County, Virginia |
• coordinates | 37°01′51″N82°42′25″W / 37.03083°N 82.70694°W [1] |
• elevation | 3,490 ft (1,060 m) [1] |
Mouth | Clinch River in Claiborne County, Tennessee |
• coordinates | 36°17′49″N84°01′34″W / 36.29694°N 84.02611°W [2] |
• elevation | 1,020 ft (310 m) [1] |
Length | 195.5 mi (314.6 km) [3] |
Basin size | 954 sq mi (2,470 km2) [4] |
Discharge | |
• location | US-25E bridge near Arthur, Tennessee, 65.4 miles (105.3 km) above the mouth(mean for water years 1919-1979) [5] |
• average | 1,157 cu ft/s (32.8 m3/s)(mean for water years 1919-1979) [5] |
• minimum | 47 cu ft/s (1.3 m3/s) January 1940 [5] |
• maximum | 59,500 cu ft/s (1,680 m3/s) April 1977 [5] |
The Powell River is a 195-mile-long river in the United States that rises in Southwest Virginia and flows southwest into East Tennessee.
The South Fork of the river rises in rural Wise County, Virginia, near the Laurel Grove community northwest of Norton and flows for several miles before the confluence with Roaring Fork in the Kent Junction community. From Kent Junction the river flows until it meets the North Fork of the river near Woodway, Virginia. The North Folk originates near Keokee, Virginia. The river flows past Big Stone Gap, Virginia, and then runs nearly the entire length of Lee County, Virginia. It drains approximately 954 square miles (2,471 km2) in both Virginia and Tennessee before reaching its confluence with the Clinch River in the Norris Lake reservoir at the site of the town of Grantsboro, Tennessee.
The Powell River was named for Ambrose Powell who accompanied the exploration party of Dr. Thomas Walker in the mid-18th century. Legend has it that his name appeared so frequently carved on trees in the valley of this river that later explorers and early pioneers came to call the stream "Powell's River" and the valley "Powell's Valley". [6]
The Powell River was designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the “second most biologically diverse aquatic system in the nation.” [7] The Powell is under pressure from the effects of mining (including strip mining), logging and associated road-building. [7]
Lincoln Memorial University operates the Powell River Aquatic Research Station, which is located where Tennessee State Route 63 crosses the river at the Brooks Bridge in Claiborne County, Tennessee. The center allows for on-site research of water quality, flora, fauna and related habitat. [8]
Fishing in the Powell River can be great in some areas; in Wise County the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources stocks trout in the shallow rushing waters of the Middle Fork under a "delayed harvest" designation. [9] Downstream from Lee County, the river is home to smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, red eye bass, bluegill, carp, red horses, walleye, sauger and even musky. A lot of people kayak the river and even wade to fish.[ citation needed ]
The French Broad River is a river in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Tennessee. It flows 218 miles (351 km) from near the town of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee, where its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville forms the beginning of the Tennessee River. The river flows through the counties of Transylvania, Buncombe, Henderson, and Madison in North Carolina, and Cocke, Jefferson, Sevier, and Knox in Tennessee. It drains large portions of the Pisgah National Forest and the Cherokee National Forest.
The Holston River is a 136-mile (219 km) river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks, it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee, southwestern Virginia, and northwestern North Carolina. The Holston's confluence with the French Broad River at Knoxville marks the beginning of the Tennessee River.
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—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 Barren Fork is a 23.4-mile-long (37.7 km) tributary of the Collins River in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Via the Collins River, the Caney Fork, and the Cumberland and Ohio rivers, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed.
The Collins River is a 67-mile-long (108 km) stream in the east-central portion of Middle Tennessee in the United States. It is a tributary of the Caney Fork, and is part of the Cumberland, Ohio and Mississippi watersheds. The river drains the scenic Savage Gulf area, located just below the river's source, and empties into Great Falls Lake at Rock Island State Park.
The Rocky River is a 31.0-mile-long (49.9 km) stream in the east-central portion of Middle Tennessee in the United States. It is a tributary of the Caney Fork River, and is part of the Cumberland, Ohio and Mississippi watersheds. The lower portion of the river is part of the reservoir created by Great Falls Dam, which is located near the river's confluence with the Caney Fork.
The Falling Water River is a 46.8-mile-long (75.3 km) stream in the east-central portion of Middle Tennessee in the United States. It rises just west of Monterey at the edge of the Cumberland Plateau, and traverses the Eastern Highland Rim before dropping off to the Nashville Basin and emptying into Center Hill Lake along the Caney Fork. The river is noted for the 136-foot (41 m) Burgess Falls, which it spills over near the end of its course.
The Emory River is a river draining a portion of Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau. It flows for just over 46 miles (74 km) from its source near Frozen Head State Park to its mouth along the Clinch River at Kingston, Tennessee.
The Watauga River is a large stream of western North Carolina and East Tennessee. It is 78.5 miles (126.3 km) long with its headwaters in Linville Gap to the South Fork Holston River at Boone Lake.
The Sequatchie River is a 116-mile-long (187 km) waterway that drains the Sequatchie Valley, a large valley in the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. It empties into the Tennessee River downstream from Chattanooga near the Tennessee-Alabama state line.
The Big South Fork of the Cumberland River is a 76-mile-long (122 km) river in the U.S. states of Tennessee and Kentucky. It is a major drainage feature of the Cumberland Plateau, a major tributary of the Cumberland River system, and the major feature of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.
The Caney Fork River is a river that flows through central Tennessee in the United States, draining a substantial portion of the southwestern Cumberland Plateau and southeastern Highland Rim regions. It is a major tributary of the Cumberland River, and is part of the Cumberland, Ohio and Mississippi basins. The river is 143 miles (230 km) long, and its watershed covers 1,771 square miles (4,590 km2) in eleven counties. Monterey, Baxter, Sparta, Smithville, McMinnville, Altamont, Spencer and Gordonsville are among the towns that are at least partially drained by the river.
The Clinch River is a river that flows southwest for more than 300 miles (480 km) through the Great Appalachian Valley in the U.S. states of Virginia and Tennessee, gathering various tributaries, including the Powell River, before joining the Tennessee River in Kingston, Tennessee.
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The Buckhannon River is a 45.4-mile-long (73.1 km) tributary of the Tygart Valley River in north-central West Virginia, USA. Via the Tygart Valley, Monongahela and Ohio rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 309 square miles (800 km2) on the unglaciated portion of the Allegheny Plateau. It provides drinking water for much of Upshur County.
The Cranberry River is a tributary of the Gauley River located in southeastern West Virginia in the United States. It is a part of the Mississippi River watershed, by way of the Gauley, Kanawha, and Ohio Rivers, draining an area of 74 square miles (192 km2).
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The American River is a 30-mile (50 km)-long river in California that runs from the Sierra Nevada mountain range to its confluence with the Sacramento River in downtown Sacramento. Via the Sacramento River, it is part of the San Francisco Bay watershed. This river is fed by the melting snowpack of the Sierra Nevada and its many headwaters and tributaries, including the North Fork American River, the Middle Fork American River, and the South Fork American River.
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.
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