Sanpoil River

Sanpoil River
Location
Country	United States
State	Washington
City	Republic
Physical characteristics
Source
⁃ coordinates	48°38′54″N 118°38′12″W[1]
⁃ elevation	2,735 ft (834 m)[2]
Mouth	Columbia River
⁃ coordinates	47°56′55″N 118°40′50″W[1]
⁃ elevation	1,293 ft (394 m)[2]
Length	70 mi (110 km)[3]
Basin size	981 sq mi (2,540 km2)[4]
Basin features
Tributaries
⁃ right	West Fork Sanpoil River

The Sanpoil River (also spelled San Poil) is a tributary of the Columbia River, in the U.S. state of Washington. The term Sanpoil is from the Okanagan term [snpʕʷílx], meaning "people of the gray country",[5] or "gray as far as one can see".[6]

For other references, see Sanpoil (disambiguation).

Course

A hill south of Republic, Washington in the Sanpoil River Valley, along SR 21

The Sanpoil River originates near the city of Republic, in the Okanagan Highland, east of the Okanogan River. It flows south through the Colville National Forest, Okanogan National Forest, and the Colville Indian Reservation. After entering the reservation the river receives its main tributary, the West Fork Sanpoil River. It then receives a number of smaller tributaries such as Twentyone Mile Creek, Twentythree Mile Creek, and Thirty Mile Creek.

The Sanpoil River enters Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake (FDR Lake), the impounded Columbia River above Grand Coulee Dam. The dam impounded the last few miles of the Sanpoil River as well. This part of FDR Lake is called Sanpoil Arm. Like many tributaries of the Columbia River, the Sanpoil River had a major salmon run before the river was dammed.[5]

Relatively low numbers of adfluvial wild rainbow trout and hatchery-released kokanee salmon return to the Sanpoil River from Lake Roosevelt. Smallmouth bass and walleye, two nonindigenous predators that stage at the river/lake interface during the juvenile migration season, are thought to consume large numbers of these species. To determine the percentage that were consumed, Stroud et al. (2010, 2011) used bioenergetic models linked to population estimates. They estimate that the predators consumed 105 (95% CI, 86-162)% of the 0.5–year kokanee salmon, 39 (33-68)% of the 1.5–year kokanee salmon, 74 (60-118)% of the 1–year rainbow trout and 53 (44-92)% of the 2 and 3–year old rainbow trout in a 113-day study window.

Habitats

Mountain riparian
Mixed forest
Wetland
Freshwater marsh

Birds

Common loon
Barrow’s goldeneye
Golden and bald eagles
Northern pygmy-owl
Black-chinned, calliope, and rufous hummingbirds
Lewis’s and pileated woodpeckers
Red-naped sapsucker
Hammond’s, dusky, and Pacific-slope flycatchers
Cassin’s vireo
Pygmy nuthatch
Western bluebird
Northern waterthrush

References

U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Sanpoil River, USGS, GNIS
Google Earth elevation for GNIS coordinates.
Grande Ronde River, The Columbia Gazetteer of North America
San Poil, Intermountain Province Plan, Northwest Power and Conservation Council
Majors, Harry M. (1975). Exploring Washington. Van Winkle Publishing Co. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-918664-00-6.
Bright, William (2004). Native American placenames of the United States. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 419. ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4. Retrieved 6 April 2011.

External links

Birdwatching along the Sanpoil River trail

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[GNIS-1] U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Sanpoil River, USGS, GNIS

[GE-2] Google Earth elevation for GNIS coordinates.

[gazetteer-3] Grande Ronde River, The Columbia Gazetteer of North America

[subbasin-4] San Poil, Intermountain Province Plan, Northwest Power and Conservation Council

[majors-5] Majors, Harry M. (1975). Exploring Washington. Van Winkle Publishing Co. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-918664-00-6.

[Bright2004-6] Bright, William (2004). Native American placenames of the United States. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 419. ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4. Retrieved 6 April 2011.