From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
Columbia River
is a
river
in
British Columbia
,
Canada
, and the
U.S. states
of
Washington
and
Oregon
. The Columbia River is about 1,243
miles
long. It is the fourth-largest river in the
United States
by volume. The Columbia has the greatest
discharge
(flow) of any North American river entering the
Pacific
.
Its largest
tributary
is the
Snake River
, which flows west from the state of
Idaho
. The lower part of the Columbia forms the border between the states Washington and Oregon. The Columbia drains 254,000 square miles (657,857 km
2
) of land, beginning in the
Canadian Rockies
and flowing west through the
Cascade Range
, to where it empties into the
Pacific Ocean
.
There are 14
dams
on the Columbia River. Three are in Canada, and the other 11 are in the
United States
. The dams generate
hydroelectricity
and provide
flood control
and water for farms. There are also dams on the Snake River and many other tributaries. These dams have, along with their benefits, caused
salmon
populations in the river to go down.
Tributary
|
Average
discharge:
ft³/s
(
m³/s
)
|
Snake River
|
56,900 (1611)
|
Willamette River
|
35,660 (1010)
|
Kootenay River
(Kootenai)
|
30,650 (867)
|
Pend Oreille River
|
27,820 (788)
|
Cowlitz River
|
9,200 (261)
|
Spokane River
|
6,700 (190)
|
Deschutes River
|
6,000 (170)
|
Lewis River
|
4,800 (136)
|
Yakima River
|
3,540 (100)
|
Wenatchee River
|
3,220 (91)
|
Okanogan River
|
3,050 (86)
|
Kettle River
|
2,930 (83)
|
Sandy River
|
2,260 (64)
|
|
---|
International
| |
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National
| |
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Other
| |
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