Stony River (West Virginia)

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The Stony River is a 26.7-mile-long (43.0 km) [1] tributary of the North Branch Potomac River in Grant County in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. The Stony River joins with the North Branch at the Mineral County border. Its source lies north of the Dolly Sods Wilderness on the Tucker County border in the Allegheny Front.

Tributary stream or river that flows into a main stem river or lake

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem 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 basin of its surface water and groundwater, leading the water out into an ocean.

Grant County, West Virginia county in West Virginia, United States

Grant County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 11,937. Its county seat is Petersburg. The county was created from Hardy County in 1866 and named for General Ulysses Simpson Grant.

West Virginia State of the United States of America

West Virginia is a state located in the Appalachian region in the Southern United States and is also considered to be a part of the Middle Atlantic States. It is bordered by Pennsylvania to the north, Maryland to the east and northeast, Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, and Ohio to the northwest. West Virginia is the 41st largest state by area, and is ranked 38th in population. The capital and largest city is Charleston.

Near its source, the Stony River was once dammed by the Stony River Dam to create Stony River Reservoir between 4,377-foot (1,334 m) Cabin Mountain and 2,733-foot (833 m) Fore Knobs. The center portion of the dam has since been demolished and the reservoir drained. Further north, the Stony River is dammed again to form the 1,200-acre (490 ha) Mount Storm Lake.

Dam A barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface or underground streams

A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of 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, aquaculture, and navigability. Hydropower is often used in conjunction with dams to generate electricity. A dam can also be used to collect water or for storage of water which can be evenly distributed between locations. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. The earliest known dam is the Jawa Dam in Jordan, dating to 3,000 BC.

Stony River Reservoir was constructed on the Stony River in 1888 by Westvaco to supply the source of water for the company's main pulp mill. William Luke's summer residence was located on the lake. The dam suffered from structural weakness and was periodically drained for repairs. The center portion of the dam has since been demolished and the reservoir drained. The majority of the dam still stands on either side of the, now, free flowing river.

Mount Storm Lake Cooling water reservoir for power plant and recreational site

Mount Storm Lake – also known as New Stony River Reservoir – is a 1,200 acres (4.9 km2) reservoir created in 1965 on the Stony River in Grant County, West Virginia. It serves as a cooling pond for the Dominion 1.6 gigawatt Mount Storm Power Station, which provides electricity to more than two million customers in Northern Virginia. The reservoir stands at an altitude of 3,244 feet (989 m).

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References

  1. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed August 15, 2011

Coordinates: 39°19′39″N79°16′18″W / 39.32750°N 79.27167°W / 39.32750; -79.27167

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.