Kaweah River

Last updated

Kaweah River
2006 12 29 - Terminus Dam (2).JPG
The Kaweah River above Terminus Dam
Kaweah river basin.png
Map of the Kaweah River watershed
Location
Country United States
State California
County Tulare County
Physical characteristics
SourceConfluence of Middle Fork and Marble Fork
 • location Sequoia National Park, Sierra Nevada
 • coordinates 36°30′53″N118°48′7″W / 36.51472°N 118.80194°W / 36.51472; -118.80194 [1]
 • elevation2,012 ft (613 m) [1]
Mouth San Joaquin Valley
 • location
Near Visalia
 • coordinates
 36°20′12″N119°13′23″W / 36.33667°N 119.22306°W / 36.33667; -119.22306 [1]
 • elevation
357 ft (109 m) [1]
Length33.6 mi (54.1 km) [2]
Basin size1,523 sq mi (3,940 km2) [2]
Discharge 
 • locationnear Three Rivers, above Lake Kaweah [3]
 • average554 cu ft/s (15.7 m3/s) [3]
 • minimum12.6 cu ft/s (0.36 m3/s)
 • maximum80,700 cu ft/s (2,290 m3/s)

The Kaweah River is a river draining the southern Sierra Nevada in Tulare County, California in the United States. Fed primarily by high elevation snowmelt along the Great Western Divide, the Kaweah begins as four forks in Sequoia National Park, where the watershed is noted for its alpine scenery and its dense concentrations of giant sequoias, the largest trees on Earth. It then flows in a southwest direction to Lake Kaweah – the only major reservoir on the river – and into the San Joaquin Valley, where it diverges into multiple channels across an alluvial plain around Visalia. With its Middle Fork headwaters starting at almost 13,000 feet (4,000 m) above sea level, the river has a vertical drop of nearly two and a half miles (4.0 km) on its short run to the San Joaquin Valley, making it one of the steepest river drainages in the United States. [4] : 378  Although the main stem of the Kaweah is only 33.6 miles (54.1 km) long, its total length including headwaters and lower branches is nearly 100 miles (160 km). [2]

Contents

The lower course of the river and its many distributaries – including the St. John's River and Mill Creek – form the Kaweah Delta, a productive agricultural region spanning more than 300,000 acres (120,000 ha). Before the diversion of its waters for irrigation, the river flowed into Tulare Lake, the now dry terminal sink of a large endorheic basin in the southern San Joaquin Valley, also fed by the Kern and Tule Rivers and southern branches of the Kings River.

The Yokuts and Western Mono are the main Native American groups in the Kaweah River basin, which was explored by the Spanish in the early 1800s and heavily logged after the 1850s by American colonists, before its upper reaches became part of Sequoia National Park in 1890.

Etymology

The name "Kaweah" (commonly rendered as /kəˈwiːə/ kə-WEE-ə; the traditional pronunciation is /ˈɡɑːwiːhɑː/ GAH-wee-hah) comes from a native Yokutsan ethnonym for the Kaweah tribelet, traditionally said to mean "crow cry," from gá "raven" and wea "to weep." Frank F. Latta traced the etymology of gá to an onomatopoeia of a corvid's call, cf. "caw". [5] [6] An informant for Latta, Aida Icho, provided an idiom related to the allegedly quarrelsome nature of the (by then extinct) Kaweah:

Gawea been gone long time. Now, when crow come in tree and quarrel, we say, Gáwea, he ahm tahnse [The Gáwea have come back].” [7]

Course

Hamilton Lake and the Valhalla Cliffs at the headwaters of the Kaweah River Kaweah downValley.jpg
Hamilton Lake and the Valhalla Cliffs at the headwaters of the Kaweah River

The Kaweah River originates along the Great Western Divide, a chain of 13,000-foot (4,000 m) peaks in the middle of Sequoia National Park. The divide separates the Kaweah drainage from the Kern River drainage to the east. The Middle Fork, sometimes considered part of the main stem, flows southwest from the confluence of Lone Pine Creek and Hamilton Creek, whose lake sources lie at or above 12,000 feet (3,700 m) in the Mount Stewart area. [8] The Marble Fork begins in a high plateau area known as the Tableland and drops 1,200 feet (370 m) over a glacial headwall, forming Tokopah Falls, before flowing west past Lodgepole Village and turning south. [9] The two forks join at the bottom of a deep gorge directly below Moro Rock to form the main stem of the Kaweah River. [10]

The Kaweah River flows in a southwest direction, paralleled by Highway 198 in its narrow canyon. A short distance outside Sequoia National Park it picks up the East Fork, which originates above 9,000 feet (2,700 m) elevation in the Mineral King valley, [11] from the left. [10] It continues past the town of Three Rivers, where it receives the North Fork, which begins in the Grant Grove area of Kings Canyon National Park. The South Fork enters from the left before the river empties into Lake Kaweah, the reservoir formed by Terminus Dam in the Sierra Nevada foothills. [12] Terminus Dam, a 255-foot (78 m) high earthfill dam, has the primary purpose of flood control but also supplies water for irrigation and hydroelectricity. Below the dam the Kaweah River passes Lemon Cove, receives Dry Creek (also known as Lime Kiln Creek) from the right and flows into the San Joaquin Valley where it divides into several major distributaries. [13]

At the McKay Point Dam, the St. John's River splits off to the northwest, making a wide loop around Visalia before becoming Cross Creek north of Goshen, from where it flows south. [14] The main channel of the Kaweah River continues to the southwest through farmland, with Outside Creek and Deep Creek splitting to the south before the Kaweah itself divides into Mill Creek and Packwood Creek. Mill Creek continues westward through Visalia, and Packwood Creek skirts to the south of the city, terminating in a small flood control basin. [15] Mill Creek ends at a confluence with Cross Creek, which flows southward to the old Tulare Lake bed near Corcoran, joining a channel carrying water from the Tule River. [16] [17] The Kaweah Delta region, as defined by the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District, covers about 340,000 acres (140,000 ha) in Tulare and Kings Counties; the main cities are Visalia and Tulare.

The length of the Kaweah River is 33.6 miles (54.1 km) between the confluence of the Middle and Marble Forks and the bifurcation of Mill and Packwood Creeks. However, including its tributaries and distributaries, the river is much longer. Mill Creek (the largest distributary stream) flows westward for 25.1 miles (40.4 km) to Cross Creek, for a total distance of 58.7 miles (94.5 km). [2] [n 1] Including the upstream Middle Fork, which is about 15 mi (24 km) long, and the length of Cross Creek below Mill Creek, which is 21.7 miles (34.9 km), some water in the Kaweah system flows 95 miles (153 km) from the head of the Middle Fork to the Tulare Lake bed. [2]

Most of the Kaweah River's runoff comes from the mountain watershed above Visalia, which covers a total of 658 square miles (1,700 km2). [2] Including all the lands drained and crossed by the river's many distributaries down to the Tulare Lake bed, the Kaweah River hydrologic region covers 1,523 square miles (3,940 km2). [2] The annual runoff of the Kaweah River between 1975 and 1995 was 443,000 acre-feet (546,000,000 m3), or about 600 cubic feet per second (17 m3/s). [18] The river's highest flows are during the peak snowmelt months of May and June; winter flows are usually more of a trickle, although the river often experiences flooding during rainstorms. [18] Most of the water is diverted above Visalia for irrigation and groundwater recharge. With the exception of agricultural wastewater, water rarely flows any further downstream except in wet years. Extremely large storms can temporarily refill Tulare Lake, as occurred most recently in 2023. [19]

Natural features and environment

Lake Kaweah is the only major reservoir on the Kaweah River. Lake Kaweah Jan 2017.jpg
Lake Kaweah is the only major reservoir on the Kaweah River.

Due to its steep fall from the Sierra Nevada to the San Joaquin Valley, the Kaweah River passes through a wide range of climate and vegetation zones in a relatively short distance. Historically, the lower Kaweah flowed into a vast area of seasonally flooded wetlands surrounding Tulare Lake, almost all of which have been diked and drained for agriculture. The Kaweah historically formed a large overflow area east of Visalia known as the "Visalia Swamp" and in areas west of Visalia stream channels were poorly defined, often simply disappearing into the marsh lands during periods of high water. The foothill zone is characterized mostly by grassland and rangeland; California oak woodland occurs along the Kaweah River and its perennial tributaries, although its range has been much reduced since Native American times. [20]

Further upstream and higher in elevation, the watershed is mostly mixed coniferous forest (pines and firs). The largest concentrations of giant sequoias, which grow only on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, are found in this section of the Kaweah watershed at mean elevations of 6,600 feet (2,000 m), although specimens have been found as low as 2,800 feet (850 m). [21] The Kaweah watershed includes Giant Forest, the most visited and accessible of all the sequoia groves, located on the divide between the Middle and Marble Forks; it includes the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree in the world by volume. Redwood Mountain Grove, the largest sequoia grove in the world at 3,100 acres (1,300 ha), and 21 other groves are also located in the Kaweah watershed. [22] [23] A relatively small portion of the Kaweah basin is high, craggy alpine country typical of the southern Sierra; such treeless, lake-studded areas of exposed granite are mostly found along the crest of the Great Western Divide.

Today, mule deer are the largest wild animal inhabiting the valley and foothill area; historically, large herds of tule elk frequented the area, but their habitat in the Kaweah Delta has been almost eliminated by agriculture. [20] There are many species of foxes, wildcats, squirrels, and rabbits including the endemic San Joaquin kit fox, San Joaquin antelope squirrel, and others. California grizzly bear and beaver were once common to the area but were hunted or trapped out entirely by the early 1900s. The mountain areas continue to provide habitat for black bears, mule deer, and bighorn sheep, and the Kaweah River above Three Rivers has native rainbow trout and introduced brown trout and bass. In alpine areas above the tree line, small mammals such as marmots and pika are common.

History

The Marble Fork of the Kaweah River, in Sequoia National Park Marble Fork Kaweah Forest.jpg
The Marble Fork of the Kaweah River, in Sequoia National Park

The Kaweah River watershed was originally inhabited by the indigenous Yokuts people of the Central Valley. By at least 3,000 years ago, a group known as the Wukchumni had permanent settlements along the river. [24] The greatest concentration of Native American settlements was along the foothill reach of the Kaweah River, in what is today Three Rivers and Lake Kaweah. [25] The Wukchumni spent summers hunting game and gathering herbs along the East Fork, and they traded with the Paiute peoples of the Great Basin. Around 700 to 500 years ago, the Western Mono came to settle in the region as well. [24]

Oak trees grew in abundance along low-elevation, permanent streams and provided the staple food of acorns, which were used to make cakes and bread. [25] Native Americans ground acorns into a fine mush using holes in the local granite bedrock as mortars. Permanent winter settlements in the foothills consisted of pit houses thatched with tules (vast amounts of which once grew in the marshes of the Kaweah delta) up to 31 feet (9.4 m) in diameter. [25] Hospital Rock, a flat next to the Middle Fork, was used as a camp possibly as early as the 1300s AD. [26] : 40 

Spanish explorers came to the Kaweah River area in the early 1800s, although it is not clear who first explored the Kaweah Delta (possibly the Gabriel Moraga party in 1806). Early Spanish names for the river included Rio de San Gabriel and Rio San Francisco. [1] Several such expeditions were sent into the region, in order to conscript Native Americans into the mission system. Father Pedro Muñoz wrote that the Kaweah would be a good place for a mission, but none were ever established there, because it was too far from the coast and could not be easily defended. In the following decades, Native American resistance to Spanish colonial government prompted many military raids, killing many of the natives who had not already succumbed to European diseases. [27]

After California became a U.S. state, the California Gold Rush drew some prospectors to the Kaweah in the 1850s, but not much gold mining occurred in the area. During this time, the Kaweah was often known as the "River Francis", a corruption of the old Spanish name. [1] Hale Tharp, a stockman and early settler in Three Rivers, discovered the Giant Forest in 1858 with the help of Native American guides. In 1861 Tharp returned to this area between the Middle and Marble forks of the Kaweah River, using a hollowed-out fallen sequoia log (Tharp's Log) as a cabin. [28] In 1873, a silver boom in Mineral King attracted thousands of people to the high mountain valley along the East Fork. [29] : 14  The peak of mining had passed by 1882, when the Empire Mine (owned by state senator Thomas Fowler, who invested most of his fortune in the mine) went under. Small operations continued, sporadically, into the late 1920s. [30] : 19–20  After the end of silver mining, Mineral King became a popular summer resort. [29] : 15 

The St. John's River, a major distributary of the Kaweah River in the San Joaquin Valley St. Johns River Visalia.jpg
The St. John's River, a major distributary of the Kaweah River in the San Joaquin Valley

The one resource extraction industry that succeeded in the Kaweah basin was timber; many logging camps sprang up in the heavily forested western slopes of the Sierra, including in the watershed's sequoia groves. The Kaweah Colony was a utopian socialist community founded in 1886, along the Kaweah River in what is now Sequoia National Park. [31] Although giant sequoia wood is generally too soft to be useful in construction, many sequoias were felled between the 1860s and the 1880s when the U.S. government began establishing timber reserves in the area, under pressure from conservationists, including John Muir, who visited the Kaweah's Marble Fork and named Giant Forest in 1875. [32] Logging mostly ended after Sequoia National Park was founded in 1890; the bill establishing the park was pushed through in part due to the actions of the Southern Pacific Railroad, which saw the Kaweah colony as a competitor to logging operations that it owned elsewhere. [33] Some settlers in the Kaweah Colony attempted to continue their operations but were later convicted of illegal logging, after which the colony dissolved in 1892.

The Kaweah Delta (historically also known as the "Four Creeks area", after the four major branches of the Kaweah River) was one of the earliest places in the San Joaquin Valley to be populated and farmed by U.S. settlers, although before the construction of Terminus Dam the entire area was frequently flooded; the Great Flood of 1862 temporarily changed the course of the river, creating the distributary today known as St. John's River. Agriculture began in the Kaweah Delta around 1864 when a group of local farmers dug the Consolidated Peoples' Ditch. The people of Visalia hired Native Americans to extend a canal from Mill Creek to power the expanding settlement's flour mill. [34] : 30–32  In addition, multiple channels had to be dug to redirect the flow of St. John's River back into the Kaweah, which had been blocked by sediment during the 1862 flood. It was not until after the Wright Act of 1887, however, that farming expanded significantly. The Wright Act allowed the formation of the Tulare Irrigation District, which began to establish a network of canals across the Kaweah Delta. [35] : 138  Surface water provided the main supply as late as 1900, after which the area's abundant groundwater reserves were pumped at increasing rates. Tulare Lake disappeared by the early 1900s, and by the 1930s, agricultural development had surpassed the capacity of local water resources. [35] : 144 

In the 1960s Disney proposed to construct a ski resort in Mineral King, which would have brought one of the most intense developments in the history of the upper Kaweah watershed. The resort would have included 22 ski lifts, a 1,030-room hotel, ten restaurants, and a railroad along the canyon of the East Fork Kaweah River to transport visitors from a parking area further down the mountain. Environmentalists fought against the proposal for many years, and in 1978 the National Parks and Recreation Act designated the area as part of Sequoia National Park. [36] [37]

River modifications

The control tower at Terminus Dam, which provides flood control and irrigation for the Kaweah Delta Lake Kaweah celebrates 50 years! (7245191194).jpg
The control tower at Terminus Dam, which provides flood control and irrigation for the Kaweah Delta

In order to make the Kaweah Delta suitable for agriculture and eventually urban development, the tangle of diverging seasonal channels and marshes had to be drained and diked extensively. As early as the 1870s local irrigation companies were dredging some creeks and blocking off side channels in order to direct floodwater away from farms. A major early 20th century project was the channelization of Mill Creek, which runs through the middle of Visalia and posed a major flooding threat before it was straightened, deepened and widened in 1910 at a cost of $70,000. [38] : 38  Dams were built in the 1920s and 1930s at McKays Point to divide water flow between the Kaweah and St. Johns Rivers, to satisfy downstream water rights. [39] Today, the Kaweah Delta has very little resemblance to historic times; most of the streams have either disappeared or been channelized, and Tulare Lake itself is now a dry, diked basin that only very occasionally floods. [40]

The Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District manages the distribution of water to irrigation districts and city water districts over a 340,000-acre (140,000 ha) service area. The primary crops grown in the district are cotton, various fruits, nuts, alfalfa, and other field crops. [41] In addition to surface water, the district utilizes Central Valley Project water from the Friant-Kern Canal, which delivers water from the San Joaquin River to the Tulare Basin. Water can be turned out into either the Kaweah or St. Johns rivers, augmenting the water supply available to Kaweah Delta users. [42] Groundwater is the other important source of water supply for the basin. The local aquifer has suffered from overdraft for many decades with an estimated annual deficit of 40,000 acre-feet (49,000,000 m3) between pumping and replenishment. [41] In order to increase the rate of groundwater recharge, more than 40 recharge basins or spreading grounds totaling 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) have been constructed throughout the district, which allow floodwaters to percolate into the ground. [41]

Hydroelectric power development on the Kaweah River began when the Mount Whitney Power Company built a diversion, flume and the Kaweah No. 1 powerhouse on the East Fork in 1899. In 1905 it completed Kaweah No. 2 powerhouse on the Middle Fork. [43] The company then applied for permission to construct a third power plant on the Middle Fork inside Sequoia National Park, which was approved partly because at the time, this was an infrequently visited area of the park. The Kaweah No. 3 plant was completed by 1913, and was followed by more plans to construct a reservoir at Wolverton and at least two additional power plants. [43] The Kaweah plants brought electricity to Visalia for the first time, and the power was also used by farmers to pump groundwater. [44] However, construction of the Wolverton dam was thwarted by bad foundation rock and the other power plants were also never built. [43] Taken over by Southern California Edison in 1917, the system today consists of six dams, three powerhouses, three forebays and many miles of concrete and wooden flumes. [45] The Kaweah No. 3 plant is an eligible property for the National Register of Historic Places. [46]

Terminus Dam was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1962 to help relieve the Kaweah Delta's chronic flooding. Prior to damming, the river could reach very high flows during winter storms, with a maximum of 80,700 cubic feet per second (2,290 m3/s) in December 1955. [47] However, the capacity of the main channel of the Kaweah River is only 5,500 cubic feet per second (160 m3/s), and its distributaries have an even lower capacity. [48] : 67–223  Four years after the dam's completion, it prevented $19.6 million of damage during a single storm in December 1966. [49] However, the capacity of the reservoir, Lake Kaweah, was too small to control the most severe floods, [50] and was so for many years until the completion of a spillway enhancement project in 2004. [51] Six huge fuse gates, the largest of their type in the world, were added to the dam; the reservoir can now safely hold 185,600 acre-feet (228,900,000 m3) of water, an increase of 30 percent from the original capacity. [51]

Recreation

View of the Kaweah headwaters from the High Sierra Trail, a popular backpacking route Kaweah bowl up fromHST.jpg
View of the Kaweah headwaters from the High Sierra Trail, a popular backpacking route

All the forks of the Kaweah River are located in Sequoia National Park, which receives more than 1.2 million recreational visitors each year. The river is a major park attraction for boating and fishing, but can be "extremely hazardous" during high water in the spring and summer. [52] Several commercial outfitters serve the traditional Class IV section of the Kaweah River between the Pumpkin Hollow bridge (near the park entrance) and Lake Kaweah. [4] : 378–379  Advanced kayakers frequent the Class V Middle Fork at Hospital Rock, further upstream in Sequoia National Park; [53] the North Fork is a wilderness run, requiring boaters to carry all their equipment to the put-in. [54] The river is free-flowing above Lake Kaweah so the rafting season depends entirely on the natural snowmelt, typically between April and July. [55] : 143 

Access to the Kaweah River for fishing, swimming and water play can be difficult in the Three Rivers area, because most of the river banks are on private property. [56] In Sequoia National Park the river flows at the bottom of a deep canyon and can also be difficult to reach. The river just above Lake Kaweah is publicly accessible at the Slick Rock Recreation Area; however, this location is inundated most summers when the level of Lake Kaweah is high. Slick Rock, known to locals as "Boulder Beach", has rock climbing areas and historic Native American bedrock mortars. [57] Lake Kaweah itself offers shoreline fishing and flatwater boating. The upper South Fork in Sequoia National Park has good fishing for wild rainbow trout, although a long hike is required to reach it. [58] A California fishing license is required for visitors older than age 16 in the park. [59]

The upper Kaweah is also home to many hiking trails. Day hikes include the walk along Marble Fork to 1,200-foot (370 m) Tokopah Falls, and the Mineral King area along the East Fork also has a number of short trails. Backpacking is popular on the High Sierra Trail, which runs from Giant Forest through the Middle Fork canyon, and summits the Great Western Divide via Kaweah Gap en route toward the John Muir Trail to Mount Whitney. The Bearpaw Meadow High Sierra Camp is located along the High Sierra Trail near the headwaters of the Middle Fork.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ USGS river mileage markers on the Kaweah River apparently include the length of Mill Creek; the mile 57 marker is located a short distance below the confluence of the Middle and Marble Forks. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tulare County, California</span> County in California, United States

Tulare County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 473,117. The county seat is Visalia. The county is named for Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lakes. Drained for agricultural development, the site is now in Kings County, which was created in 1893 from the western portion of the formerly larger Tulare County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sequoia National Park</span> National park in the Sierra Nevada mountains, California, U.S.

Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects 404,064 acres of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly 13,000 feet (4,000 m), the park contains the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet (4,421 m) above sea level. The park is south of, and contiguous with, Kings Canyon National Park; both parks are administered by the National Park Service together as the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. UNESCO designated the areas as Sequoia-Kings Canyon Biosphere Reserve in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Joaquin River</span> Longest river of Central California, United States

The San Joaquin River is the longest river of Central California. The 366-mile (589 km) long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suisun Bay, San Francisco Bay, and the Pacific Ocean. An important source of irrigation water as well as a wildlife corridor, the San Joaquin is among the most heavily dammed and diverted of California's rivers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kings River (California)</span> River in central California, US

The Kings River, historically called Wimmel-che by the Yokuts, is a 132.9-mile (213.9 km) river draining the Sierra Nevada mountain range in central California in the United States. Its headwaters originate along the Sierra Crest in and around Kings Canyon National Park and form the eponymous Kings Canyon, one of the deepest river gorges in North America. The river is impounded in Pine Flat Lake before flowing into the San Joaquin Valley southeast of Fresno. With its upper and middle course in Fresno County, the Kings River diverges into multiple branches in Kings County, with some water flowing south to the old Tulare Lake bed and the rest flowing north to the San Joaquin River. However, most of the water is consumed for irrigation well upstream of either point.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. John's River (California)</span> River in California, United States

The St. John's River is a distributary of the Kaweah River in the San Joaquin Valley of California in the United States. The river begins at a diversion dam at McKay's Point, about a mile west of Lemon Cove. The distributary flows west along the north side of the city of Visalia, where it joins Elbow Creek, continuing west to Cross Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kern River</span> Wild And Scenic River in California, United States

The Kern River, previously Rio de San Felipe, later La Porciuncula, is an Endangered, Wild and Scenic river in the U.S. state of California, approximately 165 miles (270 km) long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Bakersfield. Fed by snowmelt near Mount Whitney, the river passes through scenic canyons in the mountains and is a popular destination for whitewater rafting and kayaking. It is the southernmost major river system in the Sierra Nevada, and is the only major river in the Sierra that drains in a southerly direction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cosumnes River</span> River in northern California, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mokelumne River</span> River in northern California

The Mokelumne River is a 95-mile (153 km)-long river in northern California in the United States. The river flows west from a rugged portion of the central Sierra Nevada into the Central Valley and ultimately the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, where it empties into the San Joaquin River-Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel. Together with its main tributary, the Cosumnes River, the Mokelumne drains 2,143 square miles (5,550 km2) in parts of five California counties. Measured to its farthest source at the head of the North Fork, the river stretches for 157 miles (253 km).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tule River</span> River in California, United States

The Tule River, also called Rio de San Pedro or Rio San Pedro, is a 71.4-mile (114.9 km) river in Tulare County in the U.S. state of California. The river originates in the Sierra Nevada east of Porterville and consists of three forks, North, Middle and South. The North Fork and Middle Fork meet above Springville. The South Fork meets the others at Lake Success. Downstream of Success Dam, the river flows west through Porterville. The river used to empty into Tulare Lake, but its waters have been diverted for irrigation. However, the river does reach Tulare Lake during floods. Tulare Lake is the terminal sink of an endorheic basin that historically also received the Kaweah and Kern Rivers as well as southern distributaries of the Kings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mineral King</span> Subalpine valley in the U.S. state of California

Mineral King is a subalpine glacial valley located in the southern part of Sequoia National Park, in the U.S. state of California. The valley lies at the headwaters of the East Fork of the Kaweah River, which rises at the eastern part of the valley and flows northwest. Accessed by a long and narrow winding road, the valley is mostly popular with backpackers and hikers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Kaweah</span> Reservoir in Tulare County, California

Lake Kaweah is a reservoir near Lemon Cove in Tulare County, California. The lake is formed by Terminus Dam on the Kaweah River. The river originates in the Sierra Nevada and drains about 560 sq mi (1,500 km2) into Lake Kaweah before flowing towards the San Joaquin Valley. From Lake Kaweah, the river flows toward the city of Visalia, splitting into the Kaweah River and St. Johns River as it flows west into the Tulare Lakebed. The lake has a capacity of 185,000 acre⋅ft (228,000,000 m3). A project to raise the lake 21 ft (6.4 m) was completed in 2004. The lake now impounds an additional 42,000 acre⋅ft (52,000,000 m3) and downstream flood protection to downstream communities and agricultural land has been increased.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terminus Dam</span> Dam in California, United States

Terminus Dam is a dam on the Kaweah River in Tulare County, California in the United States, located near Three Rivers about 15 mi (24 km) from the western boundary of Sequoia National Park and 20 mi (32 km) east of Visalia. The dam forms Lake Kaweah for flood control and irrigation water supply. Completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in 1962, Terminus is an earthfill dam 255 ft (78 m) high and 2,375 ft (724 m) long. The reservoir has a maximum capacity of 185,600 acre⋅ft (0.2289 km3) of water, although it usually sits at much lower levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Fork American River</span> Tributary of the river in Northern California

The South Fork American River is a major tributary of the American River in El Dorado County, California, draining a watershed on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada east of Sacramento. The river begins in pristine Desolation Wilderness and flows through the Sierra Nevada foothills. The river at Coloma was the site of James Marshall's discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill on January 24, 1848, which started the California Gold Rush. The South Fork of the American is "the most popular recreation stream in the West" for whitewater rafting in North America, e.g., 80,000 visitors in 2011. Professional whitewater rafting companies have been offering commercial rafting trips on the South Fork American River since 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Fork Kern River</span> River in California, United States

The South Fork Kern River is a tributary of the Kern River in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California. It is one of the southernmost rivers on the western slope of the mountains, and drains a high, relatively dry plateau country of 982 square miles (2,540 km2) along the Sierra Crest. The upper South Fork flows through a series of rugged canyons, but it also drains a flat, marshy valley before joining the Kern River at Lake Isabella.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Fork Kings River</span> River in California, United States

The North Fork Kings River is a 40.3-mile (64.9 km) tributary of the Kings River, in the U.S. state of California. The river's main stem is entirely within Fresno County, and its watershed drains about 387 square miles (1,000 km2) of the southern Sierra Nevada mountain range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Fork Kings River</span> River in California, United States

The South Fork Kings River is a 44.1-mile (71.0 km) tributary of the Kings River in the Sierra Nevada of Fresno County, California. The river forms part of Kings Canyon, the namesake of Kings Canyon National Park and one of the deepest canyons in North America with a maximum relief of 8,200 feet (2,500 m) from rim to river.

The Little Kern River is a 24.4-mile-long (39.3 km) major tributary of the upper Kern River in the Sequoia National Forest, in the southern Sierra Nevada, California. It is one of three streams, along with Volcano Creek and Golden Trout Creek, that harbor beautiful golden trout.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Fork San Joaquin River</span> River in California, United States

The South Fork San Joaquin River is the largest headwater of the San Joaquin River in central California, United States. About 48 miles (77 km) long, it drains an area of the high Sierra Nevada about 60 miles (97 km) northeast of Fresno.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinkey Creek (California)</span> River in California, United States

Dinkey Creek is a large stream in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno County, California. The creek is 29.2 miles (47.0 km) long, flowing undammed in a southerly direction through the Sierra National Forest. It is a tributary of the North Fork Kings River, in turn part of the Kings River system which drains into the de-watered Tulare Lake bed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Fork Kaweah River</span> River in California, United States

The North Fork Kaweah River is a 21.4-mile (34.4 km)-long tributary of the Kaweah River in Tulare County, California. The river starts at the confluence of Dorst Creek and Stony Creek, near Dorst Creek Campground in Sequoia National Park. It flows west and is joined by Redwood Creek, which drains Redwood Mountain Grove, the largest grove of giant sequoias on earth. The river then turns south, flowing through a remote canyon, forming the western boundary of the park as far as Yucca Creek, which flows from Crystal Cave in Sequoia National Park. It continues south and passes the Three Rivers Airport before emptying into the Kaweah River at Three Rivers.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Kaweah River". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. 1981-01-19. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "National Hydrography Dataset via National Map Viewer". U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  3. 1 2 "USGS Gage #11210500 Kaweah River near Three Rivers, CA". National Water Information System. U.S. Geological Survey. 1903–1961. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  4. 1 2 Page, David T. (2017). Explorer's Guide: Yosemite & the Southern Sierra Nevada. The Countryman Press. ISBN   1-68268-089-4.
  5. ↑ Berryman, Lorin E.; Elasser, Albert B. (Aug 1966). "Terminus Dam and Reservoir – Kaweah River, California". Terminus Reservoir Geology, Paleontology, Flora & Fauna, Archeology, History. U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  6. ↑ Latta, Frank F. (1999). Handbook of Yokuts Indians (2nd ed.). Coyote Press. ISBN   1-892622-09-2.
  7. ↑ Latta, Frank F. (1999). "The Gawea". Handbook of Yokuts Indians (2nd ed.). Coyote Press. ISBN   1-892622-09-2.
  8. ↑ United States Geological Survey (USGS). "United States Geological Survey Topographic Map: Triple Divide Peak, California quad". TopoQuest. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  9. ↑ United States Geological Survey (USGS). "United States Geological Survey Topographic Map: Lodgepole, California quad". TopoQuest. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  10. 1 2 3 United States Geological Survey (USGS). "United States Geological Survey Topographic Map: Giant Forest, California quad". TopoQuest. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  11. ↑ United States Geological Survey (USGS). "United States Geological Survey Topographic Map: Mineral King, California quad". TopoQuest. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  12. ↑ United States Geological Survey (USGS). "United States Geological Survey Topographic Map: Kaweah, California quad". TopoQuest. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  13. ↑ United States Geological Survey (USGS). "United States Geological Survey Topographic Map: Woodlake, California quad". TopoQuest. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  14. ↑ United States Geological Survey (USGS). "United States Geological Survey Topographic Map: Monson, California quad". TopoQuest. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  15. ↑ United States Geological Survey (USGS). "United States Geological Survey Topographic Map: Visalia, California quad". TopoQuest. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  16. ↑ United States Geological Survey (USGS). "United States Geological Survey Topographic Map: Goshen, California quad". TopoQuest. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  17. ↑ United States Geological Survey (USGS). "United States Geological Survey Topographic Map: Corcoran, California quad". TopoQuest. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  18. 1 2 "Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District Groundwater Management Plan" (PDF). California Department of Water Resources. 1995-07-05. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
  19. ↑ Hubler, Shawn (2023-06-28). "A Vast Lake Has Captivated California Where Farms Stood a Year Ago". New York Times. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  20. 1 2 Berryman, Lorin E.; Elasser, Albert B. (Aug 1966). "Flora and Fauna". Terminus Reservoir Geology, Paleontology, Flora & Fauna, Archeology, History. U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  21. ↑ Hartesveldt, Richard J. "Distribution of the Giant Sequoia and its Relatives". The Giant sequoias of the Sierra Nevada. U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  22. ↑ Hartesveldt, Richard J. "Appendix VI: Groves of Sequoiadendron giganteum in California". The Giant sequoias of the Sierra Nevada. U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  23. ↑ Willard, Dwight. The Natural Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron Giganteum) Groves of the Sierra Nevada, California—An Updated Annotated List (PDF). USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. USFS. pp. 159–164. PSW-GTR-151. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
  24. 1 2 "History of the Living History Community". The Preservation of Mineral King. 18 March 2010. Retrieved 1 Oct 2020.
  25. 1 2 3 Berryman, Lorin E.; Elasser, Albert B. (Aug 1966). "Native Occupation of the Terminus Reservoir Region". Terminus Reservoir Geology, Paleontology, Flora & Fauna, Archeology, History. U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  26. ↑ White, Mike (2012). Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks: Your Complete Hiking Guide. Wilderness Press. ISBN   0-89997-672-7.
  27. ↑ Berryman, Lorin E.; Elasser, Albert B. (Aug 1966). "Spanish Exploration of the Kaweah River Basin". Terminus Reservoir Geology, Paleontology, Flora & Fauna, Archeology, History. U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  28. ↑ Stagner, Howard R. "Colossal Trees in a Colossal Setting". The Giants of Sequoia and Kings Canyon. U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  29. 1 2 Brewer, Chris (2004). Historic Tulare County: A Sesquicentennial History, 1852-2002. HPN Books. ISBN   1-89361-940-0.
  30. ↑ "Environmental Assessment and Comprehensive Management Plan, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Mineral King". U.S. National Park Service. Jul 1980. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  31. ↑ "Kaweah: America and the Utopian Dream". Yale University. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  32. ↑ Walker, Thayer (2016-11-27). "Giants in the Face of Drought: As millions of California's trees die, what will become of the largest tree there is, the giant sequoia?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  33. ↑ Norton, Marc (2017-08-27). "The Karl Marx Tree: Southern Pacific Railroad killed a socialist colony in the name of creating Yosemite National Park". 48hills. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  34. ↑ Moehring, Eugene P. (2004). Urbanism and Empire in the Far West, 1840-1890. University of Nevada Press. ISBN   0-87417-565-8.
  35. 1 2 Preston, William L. (1981). Vanishing Landscapes: Land and Life in the Tulare Lake Basin. University of California Press. ISBN   0-52004-053-8.
  36. ↑ Masters, Nathan (2014-02-18). "In the '60s, Disney Almost Built a Ski Resort in Sequoia National Park". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  37. ↑ Niles, Robert (2017-02-08). "What if Disney had built the Mineral King ski resort?". Orange County Register. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  38. ↑ Menifee, Eugene L.; Dodge, Fred A. (1913). History of Tulare and Kings Counties, California: With Biographical Sketches of the Leading Men and Women of the Counties who Have Been Identified with Their Growth and Development from the Early Days to the Present. Historic Record Company.
  39. ↑ "District Projects". Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District. Archived from the original on 2011-04-09. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  40. ↑ "Tule River Basin Feasibility Investigation, Environmental Impact Statement". U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 1999. pp. 2–4. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  41. 1 2 3 "About Us". Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  42. ↑ ECORP Consulting (2007-04-12). "Tulare Lake Basin Hydrology and Hydrography: A Summary of the Movement of Water and Aquatic Species" (PDF). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-06-16. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  43. 1 2 3 Dilsaver, Lary M.; Tweed, William C. (1990). "Hydroelectric Development on the Kaweah River". Challenge of the Big Trees. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  44. ↑ "Final General Management Plan and Comprehensive River Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, Volume 2" (pdf). U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  45. ↑ Elliott, John (2015-06-13). "SCE begins relicensing of Kaweah hydropower". The Kaweah Commonwealth. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  46. ↑ "Cultural Resources" (PDF). Kaweah Project (FERC Project No. 298). Southern California Edison. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  47. ↑ "USGS Gage #11210500 Kaweah River near Three Rivers, CA: Peak-flow data". National Water Information System. U.S. Geological Survey. 1903–1961. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  48. ↑ "Kaweah River Basin Investigation, California: Draft Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report". U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Jun 1996. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  49. ↑ Scott, Kevin M. (1971). "Floods of December 1966 in the Kern-Kaweah Area, Kern and Tulare Counties, California" (PDF). Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 1870-C. U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  50. ↑ "Know Your Flood Hazard". City of Visalia. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  51. 1 2 "They might be giants - Terminus dam's new Fusegates". International Water Power & Dam Construction. 2004-02-16. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  52. ↑ "Rivers". Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
  53. ↑ McQuoid, Darin (2016-09-26). "Paddle the Parks: Sequoia National Park". Canoe Kayak. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  54. ↑ Livingston, Haven. "The Rivers K: Steeped in history, the Kings, Kaweah and Kern Rivers offer burly whitewater for serious kayakers". California Adventure Sports Journal. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  55. ↑ Benson, Sara; et al. (2015). Lonely Planet California. Lonely Planet Publications. ISBN   1-74360-258-8.
  56. ↑ Romero, Sheyanne (2016-08-27). "Who owns the view?: Property owners restrict river access". Visalia Times-Delta. Retrieved 2018-08-12.
  57. ↑ ""The Boulder Beach" Slick Rock Recreation Area". Summitpost. 2006-10-19. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  58. ↑ Shaffer, Chris (2010-09-29). "Sequoia Trout Packin'". Game & Fish. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  59. ↑ "Fishing". Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.