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239-709: The Grande Ronde River ( / ɡ r æ n d r ɑː n d / or, less commonly, / ɡ r æ n d r aʊ n d / ) is a 210-mile (340 km) long tributary of the Snake River , flowing through northeast Oregon and southeast Washington in the United States. Its watershed is situated in the eastern Columbia Plateau , bounded by the Blue Mountains and Wallowa Mountains to the west of Hells Canyon . The river flows generally northeast from its forested headwaters west of La Grande, Oregon , through

478-611: A Shoshone war party attacked a wagon train in the Boise Valley, and the U.S. Army mounted a counterattack, the Winnas Expedition . The situation became so unstable that Fort Boise was abandoned, and the Army had to escort wagon trains through the area. While early settlers had simply passed through this area on their way to Oregon, gold strikes brought renewed interest in the 1860s. The Army rebuilt Fort Boise further east of

717-540: A ball drive, gear drive, or impact mechanism. Rotors can be designed to rotate in a full or partial circle. Guns are similar to rotors, except that they generally operate at very high pressures of 275 to 900 kPa (40 to 130 psi) and flows of 3 to 76 L/s (50 to 1200 US gal/min), usually with nozzle diameters in the range of 10 to 50 mm (0.5 to 1.9 in). Guns are used not only for irrigation, but also for industrial applications such as dust suppression and logging . Sprinklers can also be mounted on moving platforms connected to

956-419: A circular or semi-circular pattern. Traveling Sprinklers: These move along the hose path on their own, watering as they go, ideal for covering long, narrow spaces. Each type offers different advantages based on garden size and shape, water pressure, and specific watering needs. Subirrigation has been used for many years in field crops in areas with high water tables . It is a method of artificially raising

1195-589: A clock or timer. Most automatic systems employ electric solenoid valves . Each zone has one or more of these valves that are wired to the controller. When the controller sends power to the valve, the valve opens, allowing water to flow to the sprinklers in that zone. There are two main types of sprinklers used in lawn irrigation, pop-up spray heads and rotors. Spray heads have a fixed spray pattern, while rotors have one or more streams that rotate. Spray heads are used to cover smaller areas, while rotors are used for larger areas. Golf course rotors are sometimes so large that

1434-426: A computerized set of valves . In sprinkler or overhead irrigation, water is piped to one or more central locations within the field and distributed by overhead high-pressure sprinklers or guns. A system using sprinklers, sprays, or guns mounted overhead on permanently installed risers is often referred to as a solid-set irrigation system. Higher pressure sprinklers that rotate are called rotors and are driven by

1673-494: A direct financial cost to the farmer. Irrigation often requires pumping energy (either electricity or fossil fuel) to deliver water to the field or supply the correct operating pressure. Hence increased efficiency will reduce both the water cost and energy cost per unit of agricultural production. A reduction of water use on one field may mean that the farmer is able to irrigate a larger area of land, increasing total agricultural production. Low efficiency usually means that excess water

1912-630: A drainage area of 1,250 square miles (3,200 km), or 30 percent of the entire watershed. The Grande Ronde River's watershed is located mostly in Union and Wallowa Counties in Oregon and Asotin County in Washington, with small parts extending into Umatilla County, Oregon and Columbia and Garfield counties in Washington. The Blue Mountains, mostly rising to about 7,700 feet (2,300 m), form

2151-691: A farmer would delight to establish himself, if he were content to live in the seclusion it imposes." Starting in the 1840s, settlers began to move through the area on the Oregon Trail , which passed through northeast Oregon roughly following the route of the Hunt expedition. From Idaho, the trail traveled up the Burnt River and through Baker Valley before entering the Grande Ronde Valley via Ladd Canyon. Passing through La Grande, it crossed

2390-636: A few streams due to the effects of logging, mining and agriculture. The Grande Ronde, Wenaha, and Wallowa Rivers and their tributaries host eleven surviving bull trout populations. Redband trout and Pacific lamprey are federally designated species of concern . Other native and introduced fish species in the Grande Ronde watershed include mountain whitefish , brook trout , northern pikeminnow , peamouth chub , longnose dace , speckled dace , redside shiner , largescale sucker , bridgelip sucker and mountain sucker . The Grande Ronde watershed occupies

2629-416: A flood (spate), water is diverted to normally dry river beds (wadis) using a network of dams, gates and channels and spread over large areas. The moisture stored in the soil will be used thereafter to grow crops. Spate irrigation areas are in particular located in semi-arid or arid, mountainous regions. Micro-irrigation , sometimes called localized irrigation , low volume irrigation , or trickle irrigation

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2868-409: A higher profit than potatoes. The land is flood irrigated twice a day to simulate tidal flooding; the water is pumped from the sea using wind power. Additional benefits are soil remediation and carbon sequestration . Until the 1960s, there were fewer than half the number of people on the planet as of 2024. People were not as wealthy as today, consumed fewer calories and ate less meat , so less water

3107-524: A large network of canals and pump stations. The Minidoka Project would eventually bring water to a million acres (2,500 km ) of the Magic Valley. During World War II, many Japanese Americans interned at Minidoka were made to work on the project. The Boise Project , which would ultimately water 500,000 acres (200,000 ha) in and around the Boise Valley, was another major early reclamation undertaking. At its completion, Arrowrock Dam (1915) on

3346-522: A major factor in forming wetlands, creating a diversity of water depths and vegetation communities that provided shade and food sources for salmon and other fish. Robert Stuart , a member of Hunt's 1811 expedition, described the wetlands as such: "This plot is at least six miles in circumference, in but few places swampy, of an excellent soil, and almost a dead level; with the Glaize [Grande Ronde] and its two branches meandering in every direction through it –

3585-413: A narrow canyon before entering the Grande Ronde Valley at the city of La Grande . The Grande Ronde Valley, measuring about 35 miles (56 km) from north to south and up to 15 miles (24 km) from east to west, consists mostly of irrigated farmland and also includes the communities of Union , Cove , Imbler and Summerville . The river once flowed in a large U-shaped bend through the east side of

3824-682: A natural glacial lake enlarged by Jackson Lake Dam . It flows south through the alpine valley of Jackson Hole , which is situated between the Teton Range (to the west) and the Gros Ventre Range . Below the town of Jackson it forms the Snake River Canyon of Wyoming , turns west and crosses into Idaho , where the Palisades Dam forms Palisades Reservoir . From there it flows northwest through Swan Valley to join

4063-574: A rapid, forcing their retreat. On the Snake River above Hells Canyon, several steamboats were built at great expense (as manufactured parts such as engines had to be hauled in overland), the first being the Shoshone in 1866. However, running the upper Snake proved unprofitable, due to lack of demand. The owners of Shoshone decided to move her to the lower Snake River, and in April 1870, they made

4302-424: A rectangular or square pattern. They are good for covering large, flat areas evenly. Impact (or Pulsating) Sprinklers: These create a rotating, pulsating spray, which can cover a circular or semi-circular area. They are useful for watering large lawns. Stationary Sprinklers: These have a fixed spray pattern and are best for smaller areas or gardens. Rotary Sprinklers: These use spinning arms to distribute water in

4541-708: A result of irrigation and the subsequent effects on natural and social conditions in river basins and downstream of an irrigation scheme . The effects stem from the altered hydrological conditions caused by the installation and operation of the irrigation scheme. Amongst some of these problems is depletion of underground aquifers through overdrafting . Soil can be over-irrigated due to poor distribution uniformity or management wastes water, chemicals, and may lead to water pollution . Over-irrigation can cause deep drainage from rising water tables that can lead to problems of irrigation salinity requiring watertable control by some form of subsurface land drainage . In 2000,

4780-581: A series of massive flood basalt events that engulfed the Columbia Basin and surrounding lands, reshaped the landscape and erased most evidence of the pre-volcanic river channels starting about 17 Ma. Erupting from fissures in the southern Columbia Basin, the first basalt flows pushed the ancient Salmon-Clearwater much further north than its present course. About 12–10 Ma, the Blue Mountains region began to experience uplift, raising

5019-424: A single sprinkler is combined with a valve and called a 'valve in head'. When used in a turf area, the sprinklers are installed with the top of the head flush with the ground surface. When the system is pressurized, the head will pop up out of the ground and water the desired area until the valve closes and shuts off that zone. Once there is no more pressure in the lateral line, the sprinkler head will retract back into

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5258-478: A steep grade, was connected three years later. In addition to commerce, the railroad also opened the Snake River region – which just a few years ago had been seen as a remote, rough frontier – to recreation. The Union Pacific heavily promoted tourism in places like Shoshone Falls, Payette Lake and Soda Springs, Idaho . Countering the reputation of southern Idaho as a wasteland, a brochure described Shoshone Falls: "Shoshone differs from every other waterfall in this or

5497-523: A third of the discharge at the mouth. Just two downstream tributaries, the Clearwater and Salmon Rivers, contribute about half of the total flow of the Snake. The 107,500-square-mile (278,000 km ) Snake River watershed drains about 87 percent of the state of Idaho, 18 percent of Washington and 17 percent of Oregon, in addition to small portions of Wyoming, Utah and Nevada . From

5736-542: A way down the Snake through Hells Canyon. Bonneville's party crossed the Wallowa Mountains and down Joseph Canyon to reach the Grande Ronde, recording the name "Way-lee-way". At the confluence they encountered the winter camp of Chief Tuekakas and the Wallowa Nez Perce. Bonneville also called the river Fourche de Glace , "river of ice". In 1843, John C. Frémont surveyed the Grande Ronde Valley for

5975-399: Is supplementary to rainfall as happens in many parts of the world, or whether it is ' full irrigation' whereby crops rarely depend on any contribution from rainfall. Full irrigation is less common and only happens in arid landscapes experiencing very low rainfall or when crops are grown in semi-arid areas outside of any rainy seasons. Surface irrigation, also known as gravity irrigation, is

6214-419: Is 1,517 square miles (3,930 km), or about 37 percent. The Wallowa River sub-basin accounts for the remaining 953 square miles (2,470 km), or 23 percent of the whole. The watershed is mostly rangeland and forest, with agriculture limited to the Grande Ronde and Wallowa Valleys. Population density is light at about 16.6 persons per square mile (6.4/km). The largest city is La Grande, which as of

6453-754: Is 212-foot (65 m) Shoshone Falls , which in the spring flows with such force that 19th-century writers called it the "Niagara of the West". The Snake River continues flowing west, through the C. J. Strike Reservoir where it is joined from the left by the Bruneau River , then through the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area before entering farmland on the western side of Idaho's Treasure Valley . Passing 30 miles (48 km) west of Boise , it crosses briefly into Oregon before turning north to form

6692-480: Is a form of sprinkler irrigation utilising several segments of pipe (usually galvanized steel or aluminium) joined and supported by trusses , mounted on wheeled towers with sprinklers positioned along its length. The system moves in a circular pattern and is fed with water from the pivot point at the center of the arc. These systems are found and used in all parts of the world and allow irrigation of all types of terrain. Newer systems have drop sprinkler heads as shown in

6931-503: Is a system where water is distributed under low pressure through a piped network, in a pre-determined pattern, and applied as a small discharge to each plant or adjacent to it. Traditional drip irrigation use individual emitters, subsurface drip irrigation (SDI), micro-spray or micro-sprinklers, and mini-bubbler irrigation all belong to this category of irrigation methods. Drip irrigation, also known as microirrigation or trickle irrigation, functions as its name suggests. In this system, water

7170-415: Is also the means of delivery of fertilizer. The process is known as fertigation . Deep percolation, where water moves below the root zone, can occur if a drip system is operated for too long or if the delivery rate is too high. Drip irrigation methods range from very high-tech and computerized to low-tech and labor-intensive. Lower water pressures are usually needed than for most other types of systems, with

7409-713: Is an alpine meadow in southern Union County, Oregon , west of Anthony Lakes and the Anthony Lakes Ski Area , about 7,460 feet (2,270 m) above sea level. The headwaters are in the Elkhorn Mountains , a sub-range of the Blue Mountains. The river initially flows north through the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest , turning east where Meadow Creek joins it from the left near Camp Elkanah . It then flows through Red Bridge and Hilgard Junction state parks, passing through

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7648-422: Is common in many parts of the world as rainfed agriculture , or it can be full irrigation, where crops rarely rely on any contribution from rainfall. Full irrigation is less common and only occurs in arid landscapes with very low rainfall or when crops are grown in semi-arid areas outside of rainy seasons. The environmental effects of irrigation relate to the changes in quantity and quality of soil and water as

7887-422: Is delivered at or near the root zone of plants, one drop at a time. This method can be the most water-efficient method of irrigation, if managed properly; evaporation and runoff are minimized. The field water efficiency of drip irrigation is typically in the range of 80 to 90% when managed correctly. In modern agriculture, drip irrigation is often combined with plastic mulch , further reducing evaporation, and

8126-457: Is dependent upon farmers having sufficient access to water. However, water scarcity is already a critical constraint to farming in many parts of the world. There are several methods of irrigation. They vary in how the water is supplied to the plants. The goal is to apply the water to the plants as uniformly as possible, so that each plant has the amount of water it needs, neither too much nor too little. Irrigation can also be understood whether it

8365-611: Is in Oregon; only 341 square miles (880 km), or 8 percent, are in Washington. The U.S. Geological Survey considers the Upper Grande Ronde sub-basin to be the section upstream of the Wallowa River, with the Lower Grande Ronde sub-basin extending from there to the Snake River. The Upper Grande Ronde is 1,635 square miles (4,230 km), or about 40 percent of the total; the Lower Grande Ronde

8604-728: Is joined from the right by the Clearwater River , its largest tributary by volume. The Snake then turns sharply west to enter Washington. The final stretch of the Snake River flows through steep-sided valleys in the Palouse Hills of southeast Washington. Near Lyons Ferry State Park , it is joined from the left by the Tucannon River , then from the right by the Palouse River , which forms Palouse Falls about 8 miles (13 km) upstream of its confluence with

8843-424: Is less expensive to install than a center pivot, but much more labor-intensive to operate – it does not travel automatically across the field: it applies water in a stationary strip, must be drained, and then rolled to a new strip. Most systems use 100 or 130 mm (4 or 5 inch) diameter aluminum pipe. The pipe doubles both as water transport and as an axle for rotating all the wheels. A drive system (often found near

9082-499: Is now known as the Grande Ronde Massacre. This further inflamed tensions and led to the failure of peace talks in 1856. In 1862, settlers began homesteading in the Grande Ronde Valley and a group of Umatilla attempted to prevent them from claiming land. Soldiers sent to deal with the dispute ended up killing four Umatilla men, causing the rest of the group to flee. This brought an end to tribal resistance of settlement in

9321-421: Is often no alternative for farmers but to use water polluted with urban waste directly to water their crops. There can be significant health hazards related to using untreated wastewater in agriculture. Municipal wastewater can contain a mixture of chemical and biological pollutants. In low-income countries, there are often high levels of pathogens from excreta. In emerging nations , where industrial development

9560-443: Is often the irrigation choice for developing nations, for low value crops and for large fields. Where water levels from the irrigation source permit, the levels are controlled by dikes ( levees ), usually plugged by soil. This is often seen in terraced rice fields (rice paddies), where the method is used to flood or control the level of water in each distinct field. In some cases, the water is pumped, or lifted by human or animal power to

9799-422: Is outpacing environmental regulation, there are increasing risks from inorganic and organic chemicals. The World Health Organization developed guidelines for safe use of wastewater in 2006, advocating a ‘multiple-barrier' approach wastewater use, for example by encouraging farmers to adopt various risk-reducing behaviors. These include ceasing irrigation a few days before harvesting to allow pathogens to die off in

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10038-586: Is practiced in the vineyards at Lanzarote using stones to condense water. Fog collectors are also made of canvas or foil sheets. Using condensate from air conditioning units as a water source is also becoming more popular in large urban areas. As of November 2019 a Glasgow-based startup has helped a farmer in Scotland to establish edible saltmarsh crops irrigated with sea water. An acre of previously marginal land has been put under cultivation to grow samphire , sea blite , and sea aster ; these plants yield

10277-858: Is primarily sagebrush , mixed with wheatgrasses and bunchgrasses . About 30 percent of the watershed is farmland; irrigated farming of potatoes, sugar beets, onions, cereal grains and alfalfa are dominant in the Snake River Plain, while the Palouse Hills of the northwest host mainly dryland wheat and legume production. About 15 percent of the watershed is forested, distributed across two temperate coniferous forest ecoregions : South Central Rockies forests , consisting primarily of Douglas fir , Engelmann spruce , subalpine fir , and lodgepole pine , and North Central Rockies forests , which include mountain hemlock , white spruce , alpine fir and western larch . About 4 percent of

10516-478: Is similar in principle and action to subsurface basin irrigation. Another type of subirrigation is the self-watering container, also known as a sub-irrigated planter . This consists of a planter suspended over a reservoir with some type of wicking material such as a polyester rope. The water is drawn up the wick through capillary action. A similar technique is the wicking bed ; this too uses capillary action. Modern irrigation methods are efficient enough to supply

10755-583: Is situated between the Rocky Mountains to the north and east, the Great Basin to the south, and the Blue Mountains and Oregon high desert to the west. The region has a long history of volcanism ; millions of years ago, Columbia River basalts covered vast areas of the western Snake River watershed, while the Snake River Plain was a product of the Yellowstone volcanic hotspot . The river

10994-540: Is still considered important habitat for these fish. The Snake and its tributary, the Salmon River , host the longest sockeye salmon run in the world, stretching 900 miles (1,400 km) from the Pacific to Redfish Lake , Idaho. Since the 1950s, public agencies, tribal governments and private utilities have invested heavily in fishery restoration and hatchery programs, with limited success. The proposed removal of

11233-437: Is supplied at one end using a large hose. After sufficient irrigation has been applied to one strip of the field, the hose is removed, the water drained from the system, and the assembly rolled either by hand or with a purpose-built mechanism, so that the sprinklers are moved to a different position across the field. The hose is reconnected. The process is repeated in a pattern until the whole field has been irrigated. This system

11472-583: Is used for irrigation in agriculture, the nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) content of the treated wastewater has the benefit of acting as a fertilizer . This can make the reuse of excreta contained in sewage attractive. In developing countries , agriculture is increasingly using untreated municipal wastewater for irrigation – often in an unsafe manner. Cities provide lucrative markets for fresh produce, so they are attractive to farmers. However, because agriculture has to compete for increasingly scarce water resources with industry and municipal users, there

11711-556: Is usually not considered as a form of irrigation. Rainwater harvesting is the collection of runoff water from roofs or unused land and the concentration of this. Irrigation with recycled municipal wastewater can also serve to fertilize plants if it contains nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. There are benefits of using recycled water for irrigation, including the lower cost compared to some other sources and consistency of supply regardless of season, climatic conditions and associated water restrictions. When reclaimed water

11950-817: The Bitterroot Range along the Idaho–Montana border. The Blue Mountains form much of the western boundary of the Snake watershed from southeast Washington down into Oregon. To the south are numerous small isolated mountain ranges of the Basin and Range Province , such as the Independence and Albion Mountains . To the east are more ranges of the Rockies including the Tetons and the Wind River Range ;

12189-462: The Blue Mountains of Oregon and Washington. The Hells Canyon Hydroelectric Complex includes the Brownlee , Oxbow and Hells Canyon Dams in the upper reaches of the canyon. Since its construction in 1967, Hells Canyon Dam has been the upriver limit for migrating salmon; in the past, salmon swam as far upriver as Shoshone Falls. Emerging from Hells Canyon Dam, the Snake surges northward through

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12428-616: The Bonneville Power Administration , it has coordinated hundreds of projects in the Grande Ronde River basin to conserve instream flows, remove fish passage barriers, mitigate erosion and restore riparian habitats. However, chinook salmon and steelhead returns have not increased substantially in the 1992–2023 period, due to the effects of the Snake and Columbia River dams on fish migration. Bull trout, once widely distributed in Oregon, now inhabit only

12667-722: The Cayuse against the Shoshone, Bannock and Northern Paiute, and stopped the latter from expanding their territory towards the Columbia Plateau. Both the Nez Perce and Shoshone acquired horses in the late 1600s or early 1700s, enabling far-reaching trade and hunting expeditions. With horses, the Nez Perce were able to travel east of the Bitterroot Mountains to hunt bison, via the trail over Lolo Pass , which

12906-451: The Corps of Topographical Engineers . Emphasizing the agricultural potential of the valley, he described it thus: "... a beautiful level basin, or mountain valley, covered with good grass on a rich soil, abundantly watered, and surrounded by high and well timbered mountains; and its name descriptive of its form the great circle. It is a place one of few we have seen in our journey so far where

13145-637: The Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer . One of the largest groundwater reserves in the US, the aquifer is founded in porous volcanic rock underneath the plain. It absorbs and stores large volumes of water from the Snake River in the eastern Plain to re-emerge further west as springs in the Snake River Canyon. Water from the lost streams of Idaho , several rivers that disappear underground in the eastern Plain, travels through

13384-499: The Fort Hall Indian Reservation on the Snake River in southeast Idaho. Tribal resistance would continue for years to come. In 1877 the US government attempted to force the remaining Nez Perce onto their reservation, at which point Chief Joseph's band and several others opted to seek refuge elsewhere. After a treacherous crossing of the Snake at Dug Bar, Hells Canyon on May 31, the Nez Perce were pursued by

13623-519: The Hells Canyon Wilderness , where the majority of the river corridor is accessible only by boat and numerous Class III-IV rapids historically posed a major barrier to navigation. Today, the canyon and the surrounding Hells Canyon National Recreation Area are a popular location for whitewater boating, fishing, horseback riding and backpacking. With the adjacent Seven Devils Mountains rising up to 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above

13862-540: The Henrys Fork on an alluvial plain near Rexburg . The Henrys Fork is sometimes called the "North Fork" of the Snake River, while the section of the main Snake River above their confluence is sometimes called the "South Fork". Turning southwest, the river begins its long journey across the Snake River Plain, passing through Idaho Falls and receiving the Blackfoot River from the left before entering

14101-711: The Lost Trail Pass north of Salmon, Idaho to Tri-Basin Divide south of Afton, Wyoming , the eastern edge of the Snake River watershed follows the Continental Divide . As the Continental Divide also forms the Idaho–Montana border south of Lost Trail Pass, the Snake watershed touches Montana for a long distance, but does not extend into it. The Snake drains by far the largest area of any Columbia River tributary, making up about 40 percent of

14340-655: The Montana Trail providing access to gold strikes in Montana Territory. This crossed the Snake River by the Eagle Rock Ferry and later a bridge which the city of Idaho Falls would soon grow around. As the flow of settlers increased, the Nez Perce and their neighbors the Cayuse and Walla Walla came under pressure to cede portions of their territory. Tensions flared in 1855 after tribes were coerced into relinquishing huge amounts of territory in

14579-516: The North West Company near the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers. The following year, Mackenzie traveled up the Snake River and reached Boise Valley by making the first recorded river ascent of Hells Canyon. Mackenzie's goal was to bypass the arduous trek over the Blue Mountains. He wrote that "the passage by water is now proved to be safe and practicable for loaded boats, without one single carrying place or portage; therefore,

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14818-423: The Oregon Trail initially shunned the dry and rocky Snake River region, a flood of settlers followed gold discoveries in the 1860s, leading to decades of military conflict and the eventual expulsion of tribes to reservations. At the turn of the 20th century, some of the first large irrigation projects in the western US were developed along the Snake River. South-central Idaho earned the nickname " Magic Valley " with

15057-557: The Pacific Fur Company chartered an expedition, led by Wilson Price Hunt , to find a passage from the upper Snake River to the Pacific Ocean. Finding Hells Canyon to be impassable for boats, the expedition followed Native American trails on an overland route through the Blue Mountains. Starving and exhausted, they stumbled across the Grande Ronde Valley on Christmas Day, and replenished their supplies by trading with

15296-790: The Sea of Cortez ) and the Yellowstone and upper Missouri Rivers (part of the Mississippi River system which drains to the Gulf of Mexico ). On the north it borders the watersheds of the Clark Fork and Spokane Rivers , both part of the Columbia River system. To the northwest it borders several other tributary watersheds of the Columbia River, including those of the John Day and Umatilla Rivers . Fifty-four named tributaries of

15535-575: The Treaty of Walla Walla . In retaliation for Lt. Col. Edward Steptoe 's defeat at the 1858 Battle of Pine Creek , a force led by Col. George Wright entered the lower Snake River country in 1859 and constructed Fort Taylor at the confluence of the Tucannon River below present-day Starbuck, Washington . Over several months Wright fought the natives along the river, killing their horses and destroying stored food. The sternwheeler Colonel Wright

15774-577: The United States , China , and European countries like the United Kingdom , also fund and organize some schemes within other nations. By 2021 the global land area equipped for irrigation reached 352 million ha, an increase of 22% from the 289 million ha of 2000 and more than twice the 1960s land area equipped for irrigation. The vast majority is located in Asia (70%), where irrigation

16013-578: The Wall-low-how or Wallowa River formed the Way-lee-way , or the lower section of what is now the Grande Ronde. An important fishing village, Qapqápa, was located at present-day La Grande. Upstream of there, the river was known as ʔIyéexeteš, "foaling area", by the Cayuse. The Cayuse and Walla Walla had a fishing village on the Grande Ronde called ʔUnéhe, near Courtney Creek upstream of the mouth of

16252-728: The Walla Walla Valley . A major trail used by the Nez Perce ran from their villages at the Snake and Clearwater River confluence (modern-day Lewiston) up Asotin Creek and down to the Grande Ronde near the Wenaha River. From there it followed the Grande Ronde to Indian Valley where a branch crossed east towards the Wallowa Valley. The Wallowa Valley was a favorite hunting ground for the Wallowa band of Nez Perce, which in

16491-573: The commercial greenhouse production, usually for potted plants . Water is delivered from below, absorbed by upwards, and the excess collected for recycling. Typically, a solution of water and nutrients floods a container or flows through a trough for a short period of time, 10–20 minutes, and is then pumped back into a holding tank for reuse. Sub-irrigation in greenhouses requires fairly sophisticated, expensive equipment and management. Advantages are water and nutrient conservation, and labor savings through reduced system maintenance and automation . It

16730-439: The "Troy basin". A landscape of shallow lakes and peat bogs developed; over millions of years, layers of peat were buried under sediment, forming lignite (low-grade coal) seams which appear in the Grouse Creek area near Troy. By 10 Ma the area had begun to drain northeast down an ancestral Grande Ronde river channel. Some of the later basalt eruptions flowed down this channel and spread over southeastern Washington. At this time,

16969-504: The 1847 Whitman Massacre . The Walla Walla, Cayuse and Umatilla surrendered their lands in the upper Grande Ronde River in the 1855 Treaty of Walla Walla in exchange for the Umatilla Indian Reservation , although they "reserved their right to hunt, fish and gather at all usual and accustomed areas on and off the reservation." On July 17, 1856, a U.S. Army detachment led by Col. Benjamin F. Shaw killed fifty or sixty mostly unarmed Walla Walla, Umatilla and Cayuse near present-day Elgin, in what

17208-490: The 1855 treaty. The US government sided with the settlers, and pressured some Nez Perce leaders into signing a second treaty which shrank their reservation by 90 percent. Many Nez Perce including Chief Joseph 's band refused to leave, calling the new treaty the "thief treaty". In March 1863, the Idaho Territory was split from Oregon, and Lewiston became its capital. More than 60,000 prospectors and others entered

17447-492: The 1870s was led by Chief Joseph . The Wallowa migrated seasonally on this route from winter villages on the lower Grande Ronde and Snake, gathering roots on high prairies in spring, and hunting and fishing in the Wallowa Valley in late summer and fall. The Nez Perce and Cayuse called the upper section of the Grande Ronde Qapqápnim Wéele , meaning "cottonwood stream". The joining of this stream with

17686-501: The 1930s, many of the original homesteaders had sold out, and ranches consolidated into fewer, larger operations. Although livestock is still one of the region's main industries, some parts of the Grande Ronde watershed have since been closed to grazing. In what would become the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness , grazing allotments were cancelled around 1965. A number of dams were proposed for the Grande Ronde throughout

17925-510: The 1960s to 11,000 in the 1990s. Water quality in the Grande Ronde basin has been impacted by logging, livestock grazing and agriculture, which have led to increased sedimentation rates and stream temperatures, and reduced water flows in late summer. In 1982 the Lookingglass Fish Hatchery was built to rear chinook salmon on Lookingglass Creek, a tributary of the Grande Ronde. The hatchery was one of several built throughout

18164-413: The 20-mile (32 km)-long American Falls Reservoir , formed by American Falls Dam . From American Falls it turns west, flowing through Minidoka Dam and Milner Dam , where large volumes of water are diverted for irrigation. Below Milner Dam it enters the Snake River Canyon of Idaho , where the river narrows, forming rapids and waterfalls. In the 70-mile (110 km) stretch between Milner Dam and

18403-480: The 2020 census had a population of 13,026. Other major towns include Union (2,152) in the southern Grande Ronde Valley, and Enterprise (2,052) in the Wallowa Valley. About 46 percent of the watershed is public land, managed primarily by the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management . Most of the Wallowa Mountains, and the Grande Ronde's headwaters in the Elkhorn Mountains, are in

18642-589: The 20th century, though none were built. In 1944 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation proposed several dams on the upper Grande Ronde and Catherine Creek in response to repeated flooding in the Grande Ronde Valley. Congress authorized the flood control dams in 1968, but they were delayed due to environmental concerns. After the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation sued in 1974,

18881-462: The Army for over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) east, through Yellowstone before turning north through Montana, fighting several battles along the way. On October 5, 1877, Chief Joseph surrendered to US forces. thus ending the Nez Perce War . The survivors were distributed to various reservations across the western US. In 1878, an uprising occurred in response to overcrowding and food shortages at

19120-430: The Blue Mountains to bypass Hells Canyon and reach the lower Snake River. After the hazardous experience, Hunt gave it the name "Mad River". A group led by Robert Stuart , a member of the Hunt expedition, returned eastward across the plain the following year. The route they mapped would eventually become that section of the Oregon Trail . In 1818 Donald Mackenzie and Alexander Ross established Fort Nez Percés for

19359-446: The Blue Mountains to the west were used by the Nez Perce and multiple Columbia Plateau tribes, who traveled to these areas in summer to hunt, fish and gather roots and berries. The Grande Ronde headwaters above the valley were considered Cayuse territory. The Grande Ronde Valley itself was a major rendezvous site for the Nez Perce and tribes west of the Blue Mountains such as the Cayuse, Umatilla , and Walla Walla . The Shoshone from

19598-666: The Blue and Wallowa Mountains. As elevation increases, principal tree species transition from ponderosa pine to Douglas-fir , grand fir , subalpine fir and mountain hemlock . The Grande Ronde Valley was once home to extensive wetlands. The perennial Tule Lake was located in the southern part of the valley, where the Grande Ronde and Catherine Creek converged to form the most significant area of wetlands. The lake fluctuated from 1,600 to 2,300 acres (650 to 930 ha) in size, expanding to more than 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) in especially wet years. Beaver were widespread, and their ponds were

19837-768: The Boise Project. Palisades Dam was built in 1956, providing flood control and irrigation for the Snake River above Idaho Falls, an area which the Bureau of Reclamation had previously overlooked. Near Rexburg, the Teton Dam was also built to provide water for this area. In 1976, the Teton Dam failed catastrophically, killing eleven people and causing at least $ 400 million in damage along the Henrys Fork and Snake Rivers. The political fallout from this disaster marked

20076-495: The Boise River was the tallest dam in the world, and its construction process was an important prototype for future federal projects such as Hoover Dam . Starting around the 1950s, farmers made heavy use of the Snake River aquifer, bringing large new areas into production. Surface water development also increased with projects such as Cascade Dam (1948) and Anderson Ranch Dam (1950), which provided additional storage for

20315-559: The Boise Valley, and a new city quickly grew around the U.S. Army post at Fort Boise. With Hells Canyon impractical for river navigation, interest grew in connecting the area by rail. By 1884, the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company (later integrated into Union Pacific ) had connected Portland, Oregon , to the Union Pacific line at Granger, Wyoming , via Huntington and Pocatello . Boise, initially bypassed due to

20554-541: The Carey Act were in Idaho, and almost all of that utilized Snake River water. I. B. Perrine , who homesteaded near Shoshone Falls in the 1880s, went on to develop one of the most successful Carey Act projects. In 1900 Perrine filed a claim for water from the Snake River, and backed by significant private capital, oversaw the construction of Milner Dam and a canal system to irrigate some 250,000 acres (100,000 ha) of

20793-696: The Columbia Basin about 10.5 Ma, the Elephant Mountain basalt eruption forced the Salmon-Clearwater River into roughly its present course through southeast Washington. By 8.5 Ma the Salmon-Clearwater was established in the Columbia River's modern path through Wallula Gap , although the Columbia itself still flowed somewhere to the west. The last of the Columbia basalt flows occurred around 6 Ma; by then,

21032-533: The Columbia River basin and its tributaries began to take shape about 40 Ma. The ancestral topography and drainage patterns were completely altered between 17–6 Ma with the eruption of the Columbia River basalts , a series of massive flood basalt events that engulfed much of eastern Washington and Oregon in the region now known as the Columbia Plateau . In parts of the Grande Ronde River basin,

21271-609: The Columbia River basin. To the west are the watersheds of the Walla Walla , Umatilla and John Day Rivers , which all flow directly into the Columbia River. The Tucannon River and Asotin Creek to the north, the Imnaha River to the east, and the Powder River to the south are all tributaries of the Snake River. The Grande Ronde River basin is founded on multiple terranes , or crustal fragments, that accreted onto

21510-521: The Columbia and Snake Rivers and habitat degradation in the Grande Ronde river system. Sockeye salmon , which primarily spawned in Wallowa Lake, have been extirpated from the basin since the early 1900s, though Kokanee (landlocked sockeye) are still present in Wallowa Lake. The Grande Ronde was once the largest producer of coho salmon in the Snake River system, but the wild coho run had also disappeared by 1986. Hatchery coho were reintroduced to

21749-750: The Fort Hall Reservation, leading to the Bannock War . The US army defeated the Bannock and their Paiute allies and proceeded to restrict travel in and out of the reservation. While Lewiston was now well connected by river, travel to Boise and other points upstream on the Snake River remained difficult due to the formidable obstacle of Hells Canyon. In 1865, Thomas Stump attempted to pilot the Colonel Wright up Hells Canyon, making it 80 miles (130 km) upriver before hitting rocks in

21988-507: The Grande Ronde River upstream at what is now Hilgard Junction State Park, before diverging northwest along what is now the I-84 route towards present-day Pendleton . Moses "Black" Harris led the first wagon train through the Grande Ronde Valley in 1844. The fertile, well-watered valley, with its grasslands offering rich forage for animals, was a welcome respite after traveling through the deserts of eastern Oregon and Idaho. Native Americans in

22227-424: The Grande Ronde Valley for trade. European exploration began with the fur trade in the early 1800s; later, the Grande Ronde Valley provided a key resting point along the Oregon Trail . By the 1850s, the wave of settlement had spread to northeast Oregon, and the river was the scene of several conflicts, including the 1856 Grande Ronde massacre . Nearby gold discoveries drove emerging farming and logging industries in

22466-534: The Grande Ronde Valley represents only about 9 percent of its flow at the mouth, and with no large dams regulating its flow, the Grande Ronde runs high with spring snowmelt and reaches its lowest level in the fall. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has only one operational stream gage on the Grande Ronde, located downstream of the Wenaha confluence near Troy. The station measures runoff from an area of 3,275 square miles (8,480 km), or about 80 percent of

22705-505: The Grande Ronde Valley. Logging has been a major industry in the Grande Ronde watershed since settlement in the 1860s. A water-powered sawmill was first built on the river in 1862 at Oro Dell, just upstream of La Grande. By 1890, the Grande Ronde Lumber Company had acquired large tracts of timberland in the upper Grande Ronde watershed. Several splash dams were constructed to store water for annual log drives down

22944-594: The Grande Ronde Valley. Water deficits are most severe in the southern part of the valley, in the Catherine Creek sub-basin. On the other hand, spring snowmelt presents a high flood risk, due to the area's naturally flat topography and the redevelopment of wetlands and floodplains that once buffered high flows. As of 2022, the state of Oregon was funding plans for off-stream reservoirs , groundwater recharge , water conservation and floodplain restoration in order to mitigate spring flooding and summer water shortages in

23183-596: The Grande Ronde in Oregon are federally protected as a National Wild and Scenic River , in addition to parts of several tributaries including the Wallowa and Wenaha Rivers . Much of the Wild and Scenic section in Oregon, as well as the lowermost stretches of the river in Washington, can only be reached by water. The river's undeveloped surroundings and abundant wildlife make it a popular location for sport fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing, and boating. The Grande Ronde's source

23422-407: The Grande Ronde region, and by the 1880s most indigenous peoples had been forced away from the area and onto reservations, though several tribes maintain subsistence fishing rights along the river. While the Grande Ronde and Wallowa Valleys developed into productive farming areas, further efforts to regulate and dam the river in the 20th century proved unsuccessful. Due to its free-flowing nature,

23661-417: The Grande Ronde remained inaccessible by road until 1937. The rugged, relatively inaccessible area around Troy was not settled until near the turn of the 20th century. William Adams and his wife Lou homesteaded near the Grande Ronde in 1893; their isolation in the wilderness prompted comparisons to Adam and Eve, and the well-timbered plateau between the Grande Ronde and Wenaha became known as "Eden Ridge". Over

23900-517: The Grande Ronde watershed in 2017. The Grande Ronde River watershed has between 3,000 and 4,000 miles (4,800 and 6,400 km) of current or former salmon-bearing streams. Historically, twenty-one tributaries of the Grande Ronde supported salmon spawning, but by 1995, only eight tributaries did so. Before the turn of the 20th century, an estimated 20,000 spring chinook salmon spawned in the river, which had declined to 12,200 by 1957 and to just over 1,000 in 1992. Steelhead returns fell from about 16,000 in

24139-503: The Grande Ronde watershed, from their use. Several Nez Perce bands, including that led by Chief Joseph, refused to leave their lands in northeast Oregon. Joseph's band held out in the Wallowa Valley until the Nez Perce War of 1877, when they were forced to flee ahead of the US Army's arrival. The Grande Ronde Valley became well established as an agricultural center in the 1860s and 1870s, providing food to gold mining districts in Idaho to

24378-449: The Grande Ronde watershed, is situated just north of the Wallowa Mountains; the Wallowa River drains this area into the Grande Ronde. The northeastern part of the Grande Ronde watershed, north of the Wallowa Valley and west of Hells Canyon , is defined by extensive flat-topped plateaus through which the river and its tributaries have cut canyons, creating a dissected plateau . Most of the river's 4,105-square-mile (10,630 km) watershed

24617-635: The Lewis and Clark expedition would later follow in order to reach the Snake and Columbia Rivers. The river's modern name comes from a misunderstanding of the Shoshone Tribal Sign in PISL . The Plains Indians referred to the Shoshone people as "Snake People", while the Shoshone are believed to have referred to themselves as "People of the River of Many Fish". However, the Shoshone sign for "salmon"

24856-599: The Lewiston Valley by 1863. Many new steamboats were pressed into service, including the Spray , Cascadilla , Tenino , Okanogan , and Nez Perce Chief . The river's rapids posed a major navigation hazard, and from November to April the river was generally too low for ships. Despite these challenges, the water transport of freight and passengers was greatly profitable. Up river, the Shoshone and other tribes were also becoming increasingly wary of settlers; in 1854

25095-527: The Nez Perces, who they visited again on their return trip in 1806. Other explorers quickly followed, many of them fur trappers who began scouting the upper Snake River watershed for beaver. John Colter , a former member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, explored the Jackson Hole area in 1808. In 1810, Andrew Henry explored and named the Henrys Fork of the Snake River. He established Fort Henry,

25334-697: The Nile river in Egypt and Sudan; and in the Mississippi-Missouri river basin, the Southern Great Plains, and in parts of California in the United States. Smaller irrigation areas are spread across almost all populated parts of the world. By 2012, the area of irrigated land had increased to an estimated total of 3,242,917 km (801 million acres), which is nearly the size of India. The irrigation of 20% of farming land accounts for

25573-521: The North American continent during the Mesozoic 248–65 million years ago (Ma). At that time, the area was still part of a shallow inland sea. About 160–100 Ma, multiple igneous plutons intruded into the crust beneath this area, the largest of which would eventually form the Wallowa Mountains as the region experienced tectonic uplift that raised the land above sea level. The general outline of

25812-452: The OR&;N had constructed a branch line to Elgin; in 1907 it was extended to Joseph in the Wallowa Valley. The rail line follows the winding Grande Ronde River canyon from Elgin to Rondowa, where it turns east up the Wallowa River canyon. It was primarily used to haul wood, grain and livestock and had a regular passenger service until 1960. The Wallowa Union Railroad Authority now operates

26051-522: The Oregon Trail reached the Snake River at Fort Hall, Idaho , and stayed south of the river until Three Island Crossing near modern-day Glenns Ferry . Here the trail diverged, with the northern route fording the river to reach the HBC trading post at Fort Boise while the southern route continued into what is now the eastern Oregon desert. While the northern route passed through more favorable country,

26290-740: The Oregon–Idaho border. It is joined by several major tributaries in quick succession – the Boise River from the right, the Owyhee and Malheur Rivers from the left, the Payette and Weiser Rivers from the right near Ontario, Oregon , then the Powder and Burnt Rivers from the left. Continuing north, the river enters Hells Canyon , which slices between the Rocky Mountains of Idaho and

26529-606: The Salmon River at what is now Salmon, Idaho , naming the stream "Lewis's River". Thwarted by the river's rapids, they were forced to cross the Bitterroot Mountains via the Nez Perce trail at Lolo Pass. After paddling down the Kooskooskee (Clearwater River), they reached the junction with the Snake and camped there with the Nez Perces on October 10, 1805. They correctly surmised that the river coming from

26768-605: The Snake River Plain and the Palouse, though the majority of the Snake River Plain is Bureau of Land Management land. The Snake River watershed borders several other major North American watersheds. To the south it borders the endorheic Great Basin , including the area draining to Utah's Great Salt Lake . To the east it borders the watersheds of the Green River (part of the Colorado River system which drains to

27007-472: The Snake River Plain between 600 and 1500 CE. By the time of first European contact, the Snake River watershed was populated by several Native American tribes. The territory of the Nez Perce (Nimiipuu) stretched across what is now north-central Idaho, southeast Washington and northeast Oregon, including much of the lower Snake River below Hells Canyon, most of the Clearwater and Grande Ronde River, and

27246-604: The Snake River Plain formed as the North American Plate moved westward over the Yellowstone hotspot. Upwelling magma caused the continental crust to rise, forming highlands in a similar fashion to the modern Yellowstone plateau and leaving behind enormous basalt flows in its wake. As the hotspot migrated east relative to the North American Plate, the land behind it collapsed and sank, creating

27485-451: The Snake River Plain. Completed in 1905, the project was an immediate success. The rapid transformation of the barren landscape into productive farmland led to the moniker " Magic Valley ", and led to massive growth of the city of Twin Falls. During certain times of the year, almost all the Snake River's flow was diverted at Milner Dam, and since then, Shoshone Falls has regularly run dry in

27724-566: The Snake River at Ice Harbor Dam since 1962. The mean annual discharge for the 61-year period between 1962 and 2023 was 49,580 cubic feet per second (1,404 m /s), with a maximum recorded daily mean of 305,000 cu ft/s (8,600 m /s) on June 19, 1974, and a minimum daily mean of 2,000 cu ft/s (57 m /s) on November 29, 1961. A historic June 1894 flood at the Ice Harbor site reached an estimated peak of 409,000 cu ft/s (11,600 m /s). In terms of discharge,

27963-526: The Snake River drain more than 100 square miles (260 km ). Of these, the twelve listed below drain an area greater than 2,000 square miles (5,200 km ). The present-day course of the Snake River was pieced together over millions of years from several formerly disconnected drainage systems. Much of what would become the Pacific Northwest lay under shallow seas until it was uplifted starting about 60 million years ago (Ma). The outlet of

28202-427: The Snake River is the twelfth largest river in the United States, and it contributes about one-fifth of the Columbia's total outflow into the Pacific. The volume of the Snake River peaks in late spring and early summer as snow melts in the Rocky Mountains, and reaches its lowest point in the fall. Despite the numerous dams regulating its flow, its discharge into the Columbia remains highly seasonal. At Ice Harbor Dam,

28441-472: The Snake River posed a formidable barrier; during high water, many travelers were forced to take the hot, dry southern route, or risk drowning. Travelers going via Fort Boise had to cross the river one more time to rejoin the trail heading west. A ferry existed at Fort Boise since at least 1843; the Three Island crossing was also replaced by a ferry in 1869. A new wave of travelers came in the 1860s with

28680-766: The Snake River system as part of the Lower Snake River Compensation Plan, to mitigate anadromous fish losses caused by dam projects. In 1992, the Northwest Power Planning Council organized the Grande Ronde Model Watershed (GRMW) project to develop a comprehensive management strategy for the Grande Ronde and adjacent Imnaha River watersheds. The GRMW is intended to foster cooperation between public agencies, private landowners, fisheries management and environmental interests. Funded primarily by

28919-477: The Snake River took several thousand salmon in one afternoon by means of spears." To the east and upriver of the falls, many Shoshone and Bannock lived in more nomadic groups, traveling to the falls during the spring salmon run then gathering camas bulbs and hunting bison through the summer and autumn months. The Snake River at Hells Canyon formed a natural dividing line between the Nez Perce and Shoshone, who considered each other enemies. The Nez Perce allied with

29158-713: The Snake River watershed derives from snowmelt. Jackson Hole, Wyoming experiences an alpine climate with an average of 30 in (760 mm) of rain and 252 in (6,400 mm) of snow. The coldest month is January, with a mean temperature of 13 °F (−11 °C), and the hottest is July at 57.7 °F (14.3 °C). Twin Falls experiences a semi-arid climate , with about 9 in (230 mm) of rain and 13 in (330 mm) of snow. Monthly mean temperatures range from 29.4 °F (−1.4 °C) in January to 73.1 °F (22.8 °C) in July. The Columbia Basin around

29397-488: The Snake empties into the Columbia River at Burbank, Washington , southeast of the Tri-Cities . The confluence is located on Lake Wallula , the impoundment behind McNary Dam on the Columbia, 341 feet (104 m) above sea level. From there, the Columbia River flows another 325 miles (523 km) west to empty into the Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has measured the discharge , or flow rate, of

29636-551: The Snake headwaters was sculpted by multiple Ice Age glaciations. Starting about 200,000 years ago, the Buffalo glaciation filled Jackson Hole to a depth of 2,000 feet (610 m). Ice flowed down the Snake River Canyon all the way to Idaho. The Bull Lake glaciation, about 80,000–35,000 years ago, and the Pinedale glaciation, ending about 15,000 years ago, were much smaller and did not fill the entire valley. These glaciations carved

29875-656: The Snake, Clearwater and Salmon Rivers. Clans gathered at communal fishing sites starting about May or June. Fishing moved from the lower rivers to higher elevation streams throughout the summer, while fall-run fish were preserved for winter use. Shoshones in the western part of the Snake River Plain also depended heavily on the salmon run. At Shoshone Falls and the smaller cataracts downstream, fishing platforms, temporary brush weirs, spears, baskets and fish traps were employed at large scale. Captain Benjamin Bonneville in 1832 observed that "Indians at Salmon Falls on

30114-453: The Snake. The Lower Snake River Project consists of four dams equipped with navigation locks – Lower Granite , Little Goose , Lower Monumental and Ice Harbor – which have transformed the once fast-flowing lower Snake River into a series of lakes, enabling heavy barges to travel between the Columbia River and the Port of Lewiston. About 10 miles (16 km) downstream from Ice Harbor Dam,

30353-483: The Tetons, and a graben valley developed between the Hoback and Teton fault zones, creating Jackson Hole. As the valley dropped, water filled it to create Lake Teewinot, which drained east into the Green River – Colorado River system. About 1 Ma, the Snake River captured the Jackson Hole watershed, draining Lake Teewinot and finally connecting the modern-day Snake headwaters to the rest of the river. This landscape around

30592-731: The Wallowa Valley. A dam regulates the level of Wallowa Lake to store up to 42,750 acre-feet (52,730,000 m); this is the largest surface water storage facility in the Grande Ronde River system. While water flows in the Upper Grande Ronde River Basin typically peak in March and April, agricultural water demand is highest in June and July. On average, the valley experiences an annual water supply deficit between about June and November. In late summers of dry years, irrigation diversions often leave very little water to flow out of

30831-595: The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. The Blue Mountains to the north are mostly in the Umatilla National Forest. The Grande Ronde watershed experiences a continental climate with warm, dry summers and cold, moderately snowy winters. Mean temperatures range from a daily minimum 24 °F (−4 °C) in January to a daily maximum of 84 °F (29 °C) in July. Annual precipitation ranges from 14 inches (360 mm) in

31070-578: The Wenaha Ranger District of the Umatilla National Forest) was established in 1905, about 200,000 sheep, 40,000 cattle and 15,000 horses grazed in the area. The forest reserve was established in order to settle land disputes between cattle and sheep ranchers, and to protect the watershed from overgrazing. The canyons of the lower Grande Ronde were used for wintering livestock as well as growing fruits and vegetables. By

31309-506: The Wenaha River. The Nez Perce had several villages on the Grande Ronde below the Wenaha, including Híinezpu at the mouth of Bear Creek, and Qemúynem at the confluence with the Snake River. A Nez Perce legend tells that the course of the lower Grande Ronde was created by Beaver, after he stole fire from the pine trees in the Blue Mountains to bring to the other animals so they could warm themselves. "The Pine trees started after him. When they were close behind him, Beaver darted from one side of

31548-423: The agricultural Grande Ronde Valley in its middle course, and through rugged canyons cut from ancient basalt lava flows in its lower course. While it joins the Snake River upstream of Asotin, Washington , more than 90 percent of the river's watershed is in Oregon. The river was used for centuries by multiple Native American tribes, who fished, gathered and hunted across much of the watershed and convened in

31787-509: The ancestral Columbia River to the Pacific was established about 40 Ma. By about 17 Ma, the "Salmon-Clearwater River", or the modern day lower Snake River, flowed west into the Columbia and on to the Pacific. Another ancient river system drained what is now the western Snake River Plain. Some geologists propose that this flowed to the Columbia on a course south of the present-day Blue Mountains, while others propose it drained towards Northern California . The Columbia River basalts ,

32026-401: The aquifer to reach the Snake River, as does excess irrigation water absorbed into the ground. The major spring complexes at American Falls and Thousand Springs (near Hagerman, Idaho ) keep the river flowing steadily even in the driest of summers. At King Hill , about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Twin Falls, water levels remain about 10,000 cu ft/s (280 m /s) for most of

32265-470: The banks of these streams are high and muddy, covered in particular places with dwarf Cottonwoods, and the residue in a large growth of Willows, which afford an inexhaustible stock of food for the incredible multitudes of Furr'd race who reside in their bosoms, but the S. East fork [Catherine Creek] excels both the others, particularly in the number of its inhabitants of the Otter tribe – a few Deer and Racoon are

32504-429: The basalt layers are more than 5,000 feet (1,500 m) thick. The Grande Ronde basalt sub-group erupted between 17 and 15.5 Ma and accounts for more than 80 percent of the total volume of the flows. The outline of the Grande Ronde watershed began to take shape about 14 Ma, as tectonic uplift combined with the effects of basalt eruptions blocked westward drainage from the region to form a large geologic depression ,

32743-417: The basalt layers to form a plateau. From about 11–9 Ma, crustal deformation related to the Yellowstone hotspot caused the western half of the Snake River Plain to sink, creating a graben -type valley between parallel fault zones to the northeast and southwest. The outlet of the ancient Snake River was blocked, and water accumulated to form the vast Lake Idaho starting about 10 Ma. The eastern half of

32982-403: The basalt layers. In contrast, the Grande Ronde Valley was formed as a large graben , or fault-block, dropped below rising mountains on either side. Alluvial sediment deposits, up to 2,000 feet (610 m) thick in places, form the flat valley floor. The lower Grande Ronde watershed downstream of the Grande Ronde Valley was once within the territory of the Nez Perce . The higher elevations in

33221-469: The center pivot. This type of system is known as LEPA (Low Energy Precision Application). Originally, most center pivots were water-powered. These were replaced by hydraulic systems ( T-L Irrigation ) and electric-motor-driven systems (Reinke, Valley, Zimmatic). Many modern pivots feature GPS devices. A series of pipes, each with a wheel of about 1.5 m diameter permanently affixed to its midpoint, and sprinklers along its length, are coupled together. Water

33460-485: The centre of the wheel line) rotates the clamped-together pipe sections as a single axle, rolling the whole wheel line. Manual adjustment of individual wheel positions may be necessary if the system becomes misaligned. Wheel line systems are limited in the amount of water they can carry, and limited in the height of crops that can be irrigated. One useful feature of a lateral move system is that it consists of sections that can be easily disconnected, adapting to field shape as

33699-711: The components of these irrigation systems are hidden under ground, since aesthetics are important in a landscape. A typical lawn sprinkler system will consist of one or more zones, limited in size by the capacity of the water source. Each zone will cover a designated portion of the landscape. Sections of the landscape will usually be divided by microclimate , type of plant material, and type of irrigation equipment. A landscape irrigation system may also include zones containing drip irrigation, bubblers, or other types of equipment besides sprinklers. Although manual systems are still used, most lawn sprinkler systems may be operated automatically using an irrigation controller , sometimes called

33938-478: The confluence of the Grande Ronde and Snake. Although the Rogers laid out the townsite with plans to sell lots, the town failed to grow because of the lack of road access. Steamboats on the Snake River were the primary means of transportation between Lewiston, the mouth of the Grande Ronde and points upstream. Mining traffic ceased in 1904, though boats started carrying passengers and mail again around 1910. The mouth of

34177-458: The confluence with the Malad River near Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument , the Snake River descends a total of 1,300 feet (400 m) over a series of cataracts and rapids, chief of which include Caldron Linn , Twin , Shoshone , Pillar , Auger, and Salmon Falls . Idaho Power operates several small hydroelectric plants along this stretch of the river. The largest single drop

34416-553: The creation of the Reclamation Service (now the Bureau of Reclamation ) in 1902, the federal government began to play a more direct role in water resources development. The expansive Minidoka Project was the first federal reclamation project in Idaho. Starting with Minidoka Dam in 1906, the project would grow over the next few decades to include major reservoirs at Jackson Lake , American Falls and Island Park , and

34655-408: The crop or field requirements. Increasing the application efficiency means that the amount of crop produced per unit of water increases. Improved efficiency may either be achieved by applying less water to an existing field or by using water more wisely thereby achieving higher yields in the same area of land. In some parts of the world, farmers are charged for irrigation water hence over-application has

34894-420: The dam projects were "indefinitely postponed". Downstream of Troy, the Wenaha Dam was proposed in 1963 for flood control and power generation. This 550-foot (170 m) high rockfill dam would have backed water more than 30 miles (48 km) up the Grande Ronde River. On October 28, 1988, the Grande Ronde was designated a Wild and Scenic River from the Wallowa River to near the Oregon–Washington border, making

35133-441: The distinctive peaks of the Tetons into their present form and scoured lake basins in the valley floor, including modern-day Jackson Lake. While the Snake River course beyond Jackson Hole was not directly impacted by glaciations, its landscape was dramatically changed by Ice Age flooding events. About 30,000 years ago, the climate of western North America was much wetter than today. The Great Salt Lake Basin filled with water to form

35372-435: The doubtful question is set at rest forever. Yet from the force of the current and the frequency of rapids, it may still be advisable, and perhaps preferable, to continue the land transport." Canadian fur trappers with the British Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) reached the Snake River watershed in 1819. As American fur trappers kept coming to the region, the HBC ordered the Canadians to kill as many beavers as they could, under

35611-505: The easily farmable land was soon developed, and they could not raise the capital for further expansion. In addition, low water by late summer posed a challenge to farmers, and the irrigation companies could not afford to build dams to provide water storage. With many private irrigation companies verging on insolvency, the federal government began to explore programs assisting agricultural development. The 1894 Carey Act granted large tracts of dry federal land to western states, which then sold

35850-404: The east. La Grande, founded in 1862, was the first permanent American settlement in northeast Oregon. Within a few years, farmers and ranchers had dug ditches, rerouted and channelized streams to drain the area's natural wetlands . Timber cut in the surrounding mountains was floated down the Grande Ronde and Catherine Creek to sawmills in the valley. Gold was also discovered in Tanner Gulch near

36089-429: The eastern part of the Blue Mountains ecoregion , which is home to about 13 amphibian species, 285 bird species, 92 mammal species, and 21 reptile species. Rocky Mountain elk were widespread in the region for thousands of years, but their populations were almost eliminated by the 1880s due to hunting and habitat encroachment. Elk were reintroduced in the early 1900s. As of 2020, the Blue Mountains elk herd which ranges in

36328-400: The end of large new irrigation developments not only for the Snake River system, but for the Bureau of Reclamation as a whole. Agriculture has significantly impacted water quality in the Snake River upstream of Hells Canyon. Water removed from the river for irrigation becomes contaminated with chemical fertilizers and manure, and percolates into the Snake River Aquifer. Pollutants collect in

36567-443: The entire Columbia River watershed. Compared with the Columbia above their confluence, the Snake River is about 180 miles (290 km) longer and drains a similarly sized area, though the Columbia carries more than twice the volume of water. The Snake River watershed is very mountainous, with the northern two-thirds of it occupied by vast mountain ranges of the Rockies, primarily the Salmon River Mountains of central Idaho and

36806-410: The entire field uniformly with water, so that each plant has the amount of water it needs, neither too much nor too little. Water use efficiency in the field can be determined as follows: Increased irrigation efficiency has a number of positive outcomes for the farmer, the community and the wider environment. Low application efficiency infers that the amount of water applied to the field is in excess of

37045-516: The entire watershed. The mean annual discharge between 1944 and 2023 was 3,016 cubic feet per second (85.4 m/s), with a record high of 51,800 cubic feet per second (1,470 m/s) on February 9, 1996, and a low of 344 cubic feet per second (9.7 m/s) on August 20, 1977. Mean monthly discharge ranged from a high of 7,329 cubic feet per second (207.5 m/s) in May to a low of 721 cubic feet per second (20.4 m/s) in September. The USGS also measured stream flow at several other locations along

37284-502: The exception of low-energy center pivot systems and surface irrigation systems, and the system can be designed for uniformity throughout a field or for precise water delivery to individual plants in a landscape containing a mix of plant species. Although it is difficult to regulate pressure on steep slopes, pressure compensating emitters are available, so the field does not have to be level. High-tech solutions involve precisely calibrated emitters located along lines of tubing that extend from

37523-488: The field and distributed by overhead high-pressure water devices. Micro-irrigation is a system that distributes water under low pressure through a piped network and applies it as a small discharge to each plant. Micro-irrigation uses less pressure and water flow than sprinkler irrigation. Drip irrigation delivers water directly to the root zone of plants. Subirrigation has been used in field crops in areas with high water tables for many years. It involves artificially raising

37762-442: The first American fur trading post west of the Rocky Mountains, but abandoned it after that year's harsh winter. The 1811 Pacific Fur Company expedition led by Wilson Price Hunt attempted to find a route from Henrys Fork to the Columbia River. After suffering a wreck in the falls of the Snake River Canyon, they took an overland route through the Snake River Plain, through what is now the Boise Valley or Treasure Valley, then crossed

38001-423: The first successful river descent of Hells Canyon, a harrowing ride that skirted disaster several times. In 1895 the steamboat Norma , which had been built to haul copper ore on the Snake River above Hells Canyon, also made the run under similar circumstances. In the 1870s, Boise (to which Idaho's capital was moved in 1866) expanded rapidly as growth slowed in Lewiston. Gold drew more than 25,000 prospectors to

38240-405: The four lower Snake River dams for fish passage is a significant ongoing policy debate in the Pacific Northwest. The Snake River begins on Two Oceans Plateau near the southern border of Yellowstone National Park , about 9,200 feet (2,800 m) above sea level in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming . From there, it flows west then south into Grand Teton National Park , where it feeds Jackson Lake ,

38479-459: The geographic depression of the eastern Snake River Plain. The gradual eastward migration of this topographic high had the effect of pushing the Continental Divide to the east. Prior to the formation of the eastern Snake River Plain, the drainage area east of about Arco, Idaho – the modern headwaters and upper course of the Snake River – flowed towards the Atlantic Ocean via the Mississippi River system. The migrating Continental Divide tilted

38718-534: The ground. In flower beds or shrub areas, sprinklers may be mounted on above ground risers or even taller pop-up sprinklers may be used and installed flush as in a lawn area. Hose-end sprinklers are devices attached to the end of a garden hose, used for watering lawns, gardens, or plants. They come in a variety of designs and styles, allowing you to adjust the water flow, pattern, and range for efficient irrigation. Some common types of hose-end sprinklers include: Oscillating Sprinklers: These spray water back and forth in

38957-457: The groundwater and eventually enter the river via spring flows. Excess nitrogen, phosphorus and bacterial loads occur in many locations across southern Idaho. Large algae blooms are a recurring issue in summer. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established water quality guidelines for Snake River flows entering Hells Canyon, which cover bacteria, mercury, excess nutrients, pesticides, sediments and water temperature. Implementation of

39196-440: The guidelines include best management practices for agriculture and forestry, and regular water quality monitoring. Irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants ) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops , landscape plants , and lawns . Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been developed by many cultures around

39435-501: The hemp weed". Another Nez Perce name for the Snake River was Pikúunen , specifically referring to the stretch upstream of the Clearwater confluence. The Wanapum and Walla Walla people called the lower Snake River below the Clearwater Naxíyam Wána . The Shoshone called the river Yampapah , after the yampah plant that grew profusely along its banks. Downriver of Shoshone Falls, salmon and their cousins such as steelhead trout – anadromous fish which spend their adult lives in

39674-409: The image that follows. As of 2017 most center pivot systems have drops hanging from a U-shaped pipe attached at the top of the pipe with sprinkler heads that are positioned a few feet (at most) above the crop, thus limiting evaporative losses. Drops can also be used with drag hoses or bubblers that deposit the water directly on the ground between crops. Crops are often planted in a circle to conform to

39913-490: The irrigation results in flooding or near flooding of the cultivated land. Historically, surface irrigation is the most common method of irrigating agricultural land across most parts of the world. The water application efficiency of surface irrigation is typically lower than other forms of irrigation, due in part to the lack of control of applied depths. Surface irrigation involves a significantly lower capital cost and energy requirement than pressurised irrigation systems. Hence it

40152-402: The land to farmers and solicited private investors to organize irrigation districts. Investors would then recoup their capital by selling water rights to farmers. Irrigation plans were reviewed by engineers, who determined the economic feasibility of the projects. Although the Carey Act saw little success in most states, it greatly benefited Idaho. Some 60 percent of all lands developed under

40391-402: The land was still relatively flat and the river formed a meandering course through the developing soils atop the basalt layers. From the end of the basalt eruptions around 6 Ma, the rate of uplift greatly increased as the present-day Blue Mountains began to rise. As the land rose, the river's gradient increased and it began to incise into the landscape, entrenching its meanders and resulting in

40630-457: The landscape of the Snake River Plain, creating the Snake River Canyon and its waterfalls, vast boulder fields, cliffs and coulees . The floodwaters then emptied through Hells Canyon; however, most evidence of their effects on the lower Snake River was erased by the much larger Missoula Floods that engulfed the Columbia Basin during the same period. Caused by the repeated collapse of an ice dam in western Montana, dozens of floods overflowed into

40869-405: The largest of several tribes that lived along the river by the turn of the 19th century. In 1805, while searching for a route from the eastern US to the Pacific, Lewis and Clark became the first non-natives to see the river. Fur trappers explored more of the watershed, and drove beaver to near extinction as the Americans and British vied for control of Oregon Territory . Although travelers on

41108-412: The latter includes Gannett Peak , the highest point in the Snake River basin at 13,816 feet (4,211 m). Surface volcanic features – such as lava fields, cones , and thermal springs – are replete in the southern part of the Snake watershed, from Craters of the Moon National Monument northeast of Twin Falls to the Yellowstone caldera, while ancient lava flows of the Columbia River basalts underlie

41347-471: The left and Wildcat, Mud and Courtney Creeks from the right, then the Wenaha River from the left at the settlement of Troy . From Troy, the terrain around the river becomes more open, with forests giving way to grassy ridges and rangeland . The 27-mile (43 km) stretch between the Wallowa River confluence and Wildcat Creek is inaccessible by road. The Grande Ronde flows northeast, entering Asotin County, Washington at Horseshoe Bend, where it crosses

41586-399: The level of the land. Surface irrigation is even used to water urban gardens in certain areas, for example, in and around Phoenix, Arizona . The irrigated area is surrounded by a berm and the water is delivered according to a schedule set by a local irrigation district . A special form of irrigation using surface water is spate irrigation , also called floodwater harvesting. In case of

41825-441: The line is moved. They are most often used for small, rectilinear, or oddly-shaped fields, hilly or mountainous regions, or in regions where labor is inexpensive. A lawn sprinkler system is permanently installed, as opposed to a hose-end sprinkler, which is portable. Sprinkler systems are installed in residential lawns, in commercial landscapes, for churches and schools, in public parks and cemeteries, and on golf courses . Most of

42064-425: The line; since 2004 it has hosted a heritage rail service, the Eagle Cap Excursion Train , between Elgin and Joseph. During the 1860s, gold prospecting from Lewiston soon extended up the Snake to the Grande Ronde's mouth, following rumors of a massive gold discovery on Shovel Creek , which flows into the Snake a short distance upstream from the Grande Ronde. By 1865 the Rogers brothers had established Rogersburg at

42303-412: The lower Salmon River. The Northern Shoshone and the Bannock , a Northern Paiute group that became culturally associated with the Shoshone, occupied an area stretching from the Snake River Plain east to the Rocky Mountains and south towards the Great Basin, as well as valleys of the upper Salmon River. A Nez Perce name for the river was Kimooenim or variations thereof, meaning "the stream/place of

42542-481: The lower Snake River from the north, backing water as far upstream as Lewiston. The formerly west-flowing Palouse River was rerouted to flow south into the Snake River, forming Palouse Falls, whose outsized plunge pool attests to the force of the floods. Starting around the end of the last glacial period, the Snake River Plain was inhabited by hunter-gatherers of the ancient Clovis (10000–9000 BCE), Folsom (9000–8000 BCE) and Plano (8600–5800 BCE) cultures. Along

42781-490: The lower Snake River in Washington, the Marmes Rockshelter – flooded in 1968 after the construction of Lower Monumental Dam – has yielded archeological evidence of continuous human occupation from about 9000 BCE until about 1300 CE. Starting about 2200 BCE, people in the western Snake River basin began to adopt a semi-sedentary lifestyle, with an increased reliance on fish (primarily salmon) and food preservation and storage. Shoshoni -speaking peoples arrived in

43020-430: The massive Lake Bonneville , about the size of modern-day Lake Michigan . About 15,000 years ago the lip of Red Rock Pass south of present-day Pocatello, Idaho abruptly collapsed, releasing a tremendous volume of water from Lake Bonneville into the Snake River Plain. The peak of the flood was about 500 times bigger than the largest recorded flood of the Snake at Idaho Falls in modern times. The flood completely altered

43259-459: The mean monthly discharge is highest in May and June at over 100,000 cu ft/s (2,800 m /s), and lowest in September and October at less than 25,000 cu ft/s (710 m /s). Mean annual discharge also fluctuates significantly, from a record high of 86,240 cu ft/s (2,442 m /s) in 1965, to a low of 27,890 cu ft/s (790 m /s) in 1997. In southern Idaho, Snake River flows are significantly influenced by

43498-470: The mining industry and the difficulty of importing goods set off an agricultural boom in the Boise Valley. By the 1880s, settlers also came to the upper Snake River north of Idaho Falls, where fertile, sandy soils presented ideal conditions for the iconic russet potato ("Idaho potato"). The dry climate made irrigation necessary, and numerous private irrigation companies were formed. Private canal systems around Boise and Idaho Falls saw some success, but all

43737-401: The natives. French-Canadian fur trappers who subsequently visited the area dubbed it Grande Ronde , meaning "great circle", a name which was recorded by Peter Skene Ogden in 1827. Ogden also referred to the river as the "Clay River", the origin of which is not known. U.S. Army officer Benjamin Bonneville explored the lower Grande Ronde River on an 1834 expedition, after also failing to find

43976-413: The next few years more settlers arrived, and the first building in Troy was established in 1902. By 1904, a rough road had been constructed from Elgin to Eden. The 40-mile (64 km) route through mountainous terrain was "a huge job for the small number of settlers". With most of this land unsuitable for agriculture, the primary industry became livestock grazing. By the time the Wenaha Forest Reserve (now

44215-571: The northern part of the Grande Ronde and Wenaha drainages numbered just over 4,000 head. Much of the Grande Ronde is also located within gray wolf range in Oregon. Union and Wallowa Counties each have eight known wolf packs. The range of four wolf packs in Washington also extends into or adjacent to the Grande Ronde watershed. The river bottoms also provide wintering habitat for bighorn sheep , elk, mule deer , white-tailed deer and bald eagles . Grasslands dominated by bluebunch wheatgrass , sheep fescue and giant wildrye were once widespread across

44454-450: The ocean, returning to fresh water to spawn – were a key food source for indigenous peoples, and were of great cultural importance. Rituals such as the first salmon ceremony were widely observed along the Columbia, Snake and other Northwest rivers, and so were strict catch limits, such that a healthy number of salmon would survive to reach their natal streams. The Nez Perce had more than seventy permanent villages among their fishing grounds on

44693-408: The old country. It is its lonely grandeur that impresses one so deeply; all of the other historic places have the adjuncts of civilization, and one is almost overshadowed by a city while in their presence." Most travelers on the Oregon Trail regarded the arid Snake River Plain as an obstacle to be crossed, not a land to be settled. This began to change with the Boise gold strikes, where the demands of

44932-435: The oldest form of irrigation and has been in use for thousands of years. In surface ( furrow, flood , or level basin ) irrigation systems, water moves across the surface of agricultural lands, in order to wet it and infiltrate into the soil. Water moves by following gravity or the slope of the land. Surface irrigation can be subdivided into furrow, border strip or basin irrigation . It is often called flood irrigation when

45171-407: The only animals you may add to the Elk, Beaver and otter as being natives of this tract." Fur trappers eradicated beaver from the area and settlers drained most of the wetlands for agriculture in the 19th century. The State Ditch diverted the Grande Ronde River away from this flood-prone lowland area, leaving Catherine and Ladd Creeks as the only surface water inflows. In 1949, Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area

45410-462: The original site in 1863. A military detachment was stationed there to quell any further violence; however, tensions continued to increase, and more wagon trains and mining parties were attacked. Starting in 1864, the Snake War was fought across much of southern Idaho, with numerous battles between the U.S. Army and the Shoshone, Bannock and Paiute. By 1868, exhausted after years of fighting, Chief Pocatello and many others surrendered and relocated to

45649-415: The outflow carved Hells Canyon, emptying Lake Idaho and integrating the upper Snake and Salmon-Clearwater into a single river system. The Teton Range, a defining topographic feature of the modern Snake River headwaters, first began to rise about 10 Ma as the Teton Fault began to move, displacing the mountain block upward as the surrounding land dropped. About 2 Ma, the Hoback Fault formed east of

45888-436: The overarching goal of increasing self-sufficiency. Irrigation water can come from groundwater (extracted from springs or by using wells ), from surface water (withdrawn from rivers , lakes or reservoirs ) or from non-conventional sources like treated wastewater , desalinated water , drainage water , or fog collection . While floodwater harvesting belongs to the accepted irrigation methods, rainwater harvesting

46127-400: The present-day confluence of the Columbia River and Salmon-Clearwater had been established, with the combined flow draining through Wallula Gap. About 2.5 Ma, Lake Idaho reached a maximum elevation of 3,600 feet (1,100 m) above modern sea level, and overflowed northward into the Salmon-Clearwater drainage near present-day Huntington, Oregon . Over a period of about two million years,

46366-567: The production of 40% of food production. The scale of irrigation increased dramatically over the 20th century. In 1800, 8 million hectares globally were irrigated, in 1950, 94 million hectares, and in 1990, 235 million hectares. By 1990, 30% of the global food production came from irrigated land. Irrigation techniques across the globe includes canals redirecting surface water, groundwater pumping, and diverting water from dams. National governments lead most irrigation schemes within their borders, but private investors and other nations, especially

46605-419: The rapid transformation of desert into farmland. Numerous hydroelectric dams were also constructed, and four navigation dams on its lower section created a shipping channel to Lewiston, Idaho – the furthest inland seaport on the West Coast. While dam construction, commercial fishing and other human activities have greatly reduced anadromous fish populations since the late 19th century, the Snake River watershed

46844-409: The rationale that "if there are no beavers, there will be no reason for the Yanks to come," and even if the Americans did ultimately gain control, the HBC would already have taken all the profit. Focused primarily on the upper Snake River region, the "fur desert" policy was carried out in nine expeditions from about 1824–1831 and aimed to decrease the Americans' economic interest in the Oregon Country ,

47083-462: The regional slope such that drainage flowed west into Lake Idaho, whose water levels saw a significant increase about 4.5 Ma. The Snake River Plain drainage system continued to expand east, towards what is now Yellowstone National Park. During this expansion, the Snake also captured the Bear River , which was only rerouted towards its modern outlet in the Great Salt Lake Basin about 50,000 or 60,000 years ago by lava flows in southeast Idaho. In

47322-419: The regions saw increases in the area equipped for irrigation, with Africa growing the fastest (+29%), followed by Asia (+25%), Oceania (+24%), the Americas (+19%) and Europe (+2%). Irrigation enables the production of more crops, especially commodity crops in areas which otherwise could not support them. Countries frequently invested in irrigation to increase wheat , rice , or cotton production, often with

47561-421: The removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given location, is often studied in conjunction with irrigation. There are several methods of irrigation that differ in how water is supplied to plants. Surface irrigation , also known as gravity irrigation, is the oldest form of irrigation and has been in use for thousands of years. In sprinkler irrigation , water is piped to one or more central locations within

47800-459: The right and Phillips Creek from the left. Below Elgin, the Grande Ronde enters a series of deep, winding canyons for the remaining 95 miles (153 km) of its course to the Snake River. It receives Lookingglass Creek from the left then crosses into Wallowa County at Rondowa, where it is joined from the right by its largest tributary, the Wallowa River . Entering the Umatilla National Forest , it turns east, receiving Bear and Elbow Creeks from

48039-408: The right before emptying into the Snake River at the unincorporated community of Rogersburg , 24 miles (39 km) upstream of Asotin, Washington and 169 miles (272 km) upstream of the Snake's confluence with the Columbia River . By discharge, the Grande Ronde is the third largest tributary of the Snake River. Although water is diverted off the upper river for irrigation, water consumption in

48278-488: The river provides a significant amount of spawning habitat for anadromous fish ( salmon and steelhead ) in the Columbia River system. These populations have declined due to the building of dams downstream on the Columbia and Snake Rivers, as well as habitat degradation in the Grande Ronde watershed. Despite efforts to protect and restore aquatic habitat, anadromous fish populations in the 21st century remain much lower than historical levels. About 44 miles (71 km) of

48517-402: The river to the other, from one bank to the other. When they stopped for breath, he swam straight ahead. That is why the Grande Ronde River today winds and winds in some places and flows straight along in other places. It follows the directions Beaver took when he was running with the coal of fire." The Grande Ronde Valley was explored and named by fur trappers in the early 19th century. In 1811

48756-546: The river via irrigation return flows . There are eighteen small reservoirs in the upper Grande Ronde basin upstream of the Wallowa River, most of which store water for irrigation or recreation purposes. None of these reservoirs are on the main stem of the river, and their impact on the river's overall flow is negligible. As a consequence, irrigators mostly depend on the natural availability of water, which can vary significantly from year to year. Another 183,000 acre-feet (226,000,000 m) of surface water are used for irrigation in

48995-426: The river's headwaters in 1862, and from the 1870s to the early 1900s the area hosted placer mining operations. The community of Hilgard developed on the old Oregon Trail about 5 miles (8.0 km) west of La Grande, as a supply point for miners, ranchers and loggers. In 1884 the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company (OR&N) built its tracks through the valley, connecting the area to Portland by rail. By 1890

49234-425: The river's mouth also has a semi-arid climate, with about 10 in (250 mm) of rain and 5 in (130 mm) of snow as measured at Ice Harbor Dam. January is the coldest month with a mean temperature of 34.3 °F (1.3 °C), and July is the hottest month at 74.6 °F (23.7 °C). Semi-arid shrubland and rangeland covers about 50 percent of the Snake River watershed. Natural vegetation

49473-438: The river's twisting course through its lower canyons. Along the lower Grande Ronde, the canyons have cut through and exposed the horizontal basalt layers, forming distinctive terraced cliffs. Although the Columbia River basalts encompass almost all the surface geology of the area, older rocks are exposed in a few places, including the Wallowa and Elkhorn mountains, and along the lower river in Washington where it cuts into rock below

49712-473: The river, Hells Canyon is one of the deepest canyons in North America, almost one-third deeper than the Grand Canyon . Within the canyon it is joined from the left by the Imnaha River , then from the right by its longest tributary, the Salmon River . Further north, it begins to form the Idaho– Washington border, and receives the Grande Ronde River from the left. From the end of Hells Canyon at Asotin, Washington , it flows north to Lewiston, Idaho , where it

49951-410: The river. Around the turn of the 20th century, about 10–20 million board feet of logs were floated down the river each year to mills in La Grande. In 1926, the Mount Emily Lumber Company acquired the Grande Ronde Lumber Company's holdings. The river drives ended, with log hauls switching to rail, and later to truck. Snake River The river's watershed , which drains parts of six U.S. states ,

50190-403: The river. At La Grande, just before the river enters the Grande Ronde Valley, the average discharge was 389 cubic feet per second (11.0 m/s) for the period 1903–1989. This was from a drainage area of 678 square miles (1,760 km), or 16 percent of the entire Grande Ronde watershed. At Elgin, the average discharge was 670 cubic feet per second (19 m/s) for the period 1955–1981, from

50429-511: The section off limits to new dams. The Grande Ronde River supports an estimated 38 fish species, of which 15 are introduced. Like many rivers in the Columbia Basin, it once supported large runs of anadromous fish , which migrate from the Pacific to spawn in freshwater streams. These fish formed a major part of the diet for indigenous peoples in the region. Chinook salmon , steelhead and bull trout are federally listed as threatened species ; their numbers have fallen due to dam construction along

50668-439: The south was a continuation of "Lewis's" or Salmon River. The expedition journals note the Nez Perce called it Kimooenim , although William Clark later erased mentions of the name to replace with "Lewis's". Six days later they reached the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers, after noting a number of dangerous rapids as well as many native fishing sites on the lower Snake. The expedition established friendly relations with

50907-419: The south would also visit the area. The valley was a place to trade and peacefully settle disputes, as well as to fish, bathe in hot springs, and bring the elderly and sick to recuperate. People came to the Grande Ronde region via an extensive network of trails that laced the Blue Mountains. Trails connected the Grande Ronde Valley southeast to the Baker Valley , west to the Umatilla River valley, and north to

51146-400: The sprinkler arrives back at the reel the system shuts off. This type of system is known to most people as a "waterreel" traveling irrigation sprinkler and they are used extensively for dust suppression, irrigation, and land application of waste water. Other travelers use a flat rubber hose that is dragged along behind while the sprinkler platform is pulled by a cable. Center pivot irrigation

51385-424: The state border three times (into Washington, back into Oregon and into Washington again). It receives Menatchee and Cottonwood Creeks from the left, then is crossed by State Route 129 on the Grande Ronde River Bridge at Boggan's Oasis southwest of Anatone . Below here, the river cuts through progressively more arid, sparsely vegetated landscapes with large areas of exposed rock. It is joined by Joseph Creek from

51624-433: The summer. The Idaho State Historical Society writes that "Perrine’s venture contrasted remarkably with private canal company failures that led to congressional provision for federal reclamation projects after 1902. As a rare successful example of state supervised private irrigation development provided for in [the Carey Act] of 1894, Milner Dam and its canal system have national significance in agricultural history." With

51863-493: The sunlight; applying water carefully so it does not contaminate leaves likely to be eaten raw; cleaning vegetables with disinfectant; or allowing fecal sludge used in farming to dry before being used as a human manure. Irrigation water can also come from non-conventional sources like treated wastewater , desalinated water , drainage water , or fog collection . In countries where humid air sweeps through at night, water can be obtained by condensation onto cold surfaces. This

52102-437: The total fertile land was 2,788,000 km (689 million acres) and it was equipped with irrigation infrastructure worldwide. About 68% of this area is in Asia, 17% in the Americas, 9% in Europe, 5% in Africa and 1% in Oceania. The largest contiguous areas of high irrigation density are found in Northern and Eastern India and Pakistan along the Ganges and Indus rivers; in the Hai He, Huang He and Yangtze basins in China; along

52341-481: The valley engaged in a lucrative trade of oxen, trading one healthy, well-fed animal for every two exhausted, starving ones. They let the oxen graze and fatten up in the valley before selling them to the next party of travelers. An estimated 300,000 emigrants traveled through the Grande Ronde Valley from the 1840s to the 1870s. As the wave of settlement spread to northeast Oregon, the 1850s saw increasing hostilities between Native Americans and settlers, particularly after

52580-419: The valley, but is now artificially diverted to the north via the State Ditch, bypassing the long meandering section to the east. At the end of the ditch the original channel – which now carries water from Catherine Creek – rejoins from the right. At the northern end of the valley, the Grande Ronde flows through Rhinehart Gap into the smaller Indian Valley and the city of Elgin , where it receives Clark Creek from

52819-405: The valley. The Nez Perce retained control of their lands along the lower Grande Ronde River in the 1855 treaty. However, gold strikes near Lewiston led to a flood of prospectors onto Nez Perce treaty lands in the 1860s. Some Nez Perce leaders were pressured into signing a second treaty that greatly shrank the size of their reservation, eliminating all the lands in Washington and Oregon, and thus

53058-399: The valleys to 60 inches (1,500 mm) at higher elevations. Most precipitation in the Grande Ronde watershed falls as snow. Due to the lower elevation of the Blue Mountains, snowmelt occurs earlier in the upper Grande Ronde drainage, typically peaking in March or April; the Wallowa River, by contrast, peaks in May or June. The Grande Ronde watershed is bordered by several other watersheds of

53297-434: The vast region of the Pacific Northwest centering on modern-day British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Idaho. By the time the Americans annexed Oregon Territory in 1848, beaver were nearly extirpated across much of the Rocky Mountains. Starting in the 1840s, the Oregon Trail became well established, and thousands of settlers passed through the Snake River Plain on their way to the Willamette Valley . Coming from Wyoming,

53536-405: The water source by a hose. Automatically moving wheeled systems known as traveling sprinklers may irrigate areas such as small farms, sports fields, parks, pastures, and cemeteries unattended. Most of these use a length of polyethylene tubing wound on a steel drum. As the tubing is wound on the drum powered by the irrigation water or a small gas engine, the sprinkler is pulled across the field. When

53775-414: The water table to allow the soil to be moistened from below the plants' root zone. Often those systems are located on permanent grasslands in lowlands or river valleys and combined with drainage infrastructure. A system of pumping stations, canals, weirs and gates allows it to increase or decrease the water level in a network of ditches and thereby control the water table. Subirrigation is also used in

54014-404: The water table to moisten the soil below the root zone of plants. Irrigation water can come from groundwater (extracted from springs or by using wells ), from surface water (withdrawn from rivers , lakes or reservoirs ) or from non-conventional sources like treated wastewater , desalinated water , drainage water , or fog collection . Irrigation can be supplementary to rainfall , which

54253-403: The watershed is barren desert, and only about 1 percent is urbanized. Most of the Snake River watershed is public land, with the U.S. Forest Service managing the Nez Perce , Clearwater , Bitterroot , Umatilla , Wallowa–Whitman , Payette , Boise , Salmon–Challis , Sawtooth , Caribou–Targhee and Bridger–Teton National Forests that cover much of the northern and eastern parts of

54492-400: The watershed. The forests contain numerous designated wilderness areas, including the Sawtooth , Selway–Bitterroot , Frank Church-River of No Return , Gospel Hump , Hells Canyon , Teton and Gros Ventre . National Park Service land includes Craters of the Moon National Monument and Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Large areas of privately owned farmland are concentrated in

54731-446: The watershed. Most of the original grasslands have been replaced by agriculture or heavily altered by livestock grazing, which has caused erosion and introduced invasive plants such as cheatgrass . The Grande Ronde watershed includes part of the 146,000-acre (59,000 ha) Zumwalt Prairie , the largest intact bunchgrass prairie in the Pacific Northwest . Higher elevations transition into shrubland and eventually coniferous forest in

54970-414: The western boundary of the watershed as they extend through northeast Oregon and southeast Washington. East of the Grande Ronde Valley are the Wallowa Mountains , whose highest peaks reach almost 10,000 feet (3,000 m). Due to their higher elevation, the Wallowas were shaped by heavy Ice Age glaciation, leading to their nickname of the "Oregon Alps". The Wallowa Valley, the second major mountain valley in

55209-440: The western part of the watershed. The Snake River Plain is the largest area without mountains, but it still features rugged terrain, being crisscrossed by canyons formed by the Snake River and its tributaries. Due to the rain shadow effect of the Cascades , precipitation as a whole is scant, averaging 14 inches (360 mm) across the entire watershed. Most precipitation falls at higher elevations as snow, thus, most runoff in

55448-449: The world. Irrigation helps to grow crops, maintain landscapes, and revegetate disturbed soils in dry areas and during times of below-average rainfall. In addition to these uses, irrigation is also employed to protect crops from frost , suppress weed growth in grain fields, and prevent soil consolidation . It is also used to cool livestock , reduce dust , dispose of sewage , and support mining operations. Drainage , which involves

55687-421: The year, increasing about 20 percent during snowmelt and decreasing about 20 percent with late summer irrigation diversions. Despite its great length, the Snake River accumulates most of its water in the lower one-fourth of its course. By the time it reaches Hells Canyon Dam , 247 miles (398 km) from the mouth, the mean annual discharge is about 19,000 cu ft/s (540 m /s) – just over

55926-413: Was a key component of the green revolution; the Americas account for 16% and Europe for 8% of the world total. India (76 million ha) and China (75 million ha) have the largest equipped area for irrigation, far ahead of the United States o fAmerica (27 million ha). China and India also have the largest net gains in equipped area between 2000 and 2020 (+21 million ha for China and +15 million ha for India). All

56165-427: Was commissioned to haul supplies up the Snake River to Fort Taylor. Captained by veteran Oregon river pilot Len White, the Wright was the first steamboat to run on the Snake River and the Columbia above The Dalles . Two years later, Elias D. Pierce discovered gold to the east on Nez Perce treaty land. As thousands of fortune seekers flocked to the area, the city of Lewiston was founded in 1861, in violation of

56404-611: Was established in the southern part of the valley to conserve wetland habitat for migrating waterfowl. This is now the largest tule wetland remaining in northeast Oregon. Irrigation is the largest consumer of Grande Ronde River water. The Grande Ronde Valley has about 100,000 acres (40,000 ha) of irrigated farmland, consuming 211,000 acre-feet (260,000,000 m) of surface water and 87,000 acre-feet (107,000,000 m) of groundwater each year. Municipal and industrial users consume about 10,000 acre-feet (12,000,000 m) of combined surface and groundwater. Some of this water re-enters

56643-411: Was further altered by catastrophic flooding in the most recent Ice Age , which created such features as the Snake River Canyon and Shoshone Falls . The Snake River once hosted some of the largest North American runs of salmon and other anadromous fish . For thousands of years, salmon fishing has played a central role in the culture and diet of indigenous peoples. The Shoshone and Nez Perce were

56882-666: Was needed to produce their food. They required a third of the volume of water humans presently take from rivers. Today, the competition for water resources is much more intense, because there are now more than seven billion people on the planet, increasing the likelihood of overconsumption of food produced by water-thirsty animal agriculture and intensive farming practices. This creates increasing competition for water from industry , urbanisation and biofuel crops . Farmers will have to strive to increase productivity to meet growing demands for food , while industry and cities find ways to use water more efficiently. Successful agriculture

57121-406: Was the same or similar to the Plains Indian common sign for "snake." The English name for the river was likely derived from this interpretation of the hand gesture, although it is uncertain when the name was first used. The first Euro-Americans to reach the Snake River watershed were the Lewis and Clark Expedition, who in August 1805 crossed the Continental Divide at Lemhi Pass and descended to

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