Eel River (California)
| Eel River | |
| River | |
 The river near Dyerville, California
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | California |
| County | Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Trinity |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | South Fork Eel River |
| - right | Middle Fork Eel River, North Fork Eel River, Van Duzen River |
| City | Fortuna |
| Source | Pacific Coast Ranges |
| - elevation | 6,245 ft (1,903 m) |
| - coordinates | 39°36′51″N 122°58′12″W / 39.61417°N 122.97000°W |
| Mouth | Pacific Ocean |
| - location | Humboldt County, California |
| - elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| - coordinates | 40°38′29″N 124°18′44″W / 40.64139°N 124.31222°WCoordinates: 40°38′29″N 124°18′44″W / 40.64139°N 124.31222°W |
| Length | 196 mi (315 km) |
| Basin | 3,684 sq mi (9,542 km2) |
| Discharge | for mouth, near Fortuna |
| - average | 9,503 cu ft/s (300 m3/s) |
| - max | 935,800 cu ft/s (26,500 m3/s) |
| - min | 10 cu ft/s (0.3 m3/s) |
 Map of the Eel River drainage basin
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The Eel River (Cahto: Taanchow) is a major river, about 196 miles (315 km) long, of northwestern California in the United States. The river and its tributaries form the third largest watershed entirely in California, draining a rugged area of 3,684 square miles (9,540 km2) in five counties. The river flows generally northward through the Coast Ranges west of the Sacramento Valley, emptying into the Pacific Ocean about 10 miles (16 km) downstream from Fortuna and just south of Humboldt Bay. The river provides groundwater recharge, recreation, and industrial, agricultural and municipal water supply.
The Eel River system is among the most dynamic in California because of the region's unstable geology and the influence of major Pacific storms. The discharge is highly variable; average flows in January and February are over 100 times greater than in August and September. The river also carries the highest suspended sediment load of any river of its size in the United States, in part due to the frequent landslides in the region. However, the river basin also supports abundant forests – including some of the world's largest trees in Sequoia sempervirens (Coastal redwood) groves – and historically, one of California's major salmon and steelhead trout runs.
The river basin was lightly populated by Native Americans before, and for decades after the European settlement of California. The region remained little traveled until 1850, when Josiah Gregg and his exploring party arrived in search of land for settlement. The river was named after they traded a frying pan to a group of Wiyot fishermen in exchange for a large number of Pacific lampreys, which the explorers thought were eels. Explorers' reports of the fertile and heavily timbered region attracted settlers to Humboldt Bay and the Eel River Valley. Starting in the late 19th century the Eel River supported a large salmon canning industry which began to decline by the 1920s due to overfishing. The Eel River basin has also been a significant source of timber since the days of early settlement and continues to support a major logging sector. The river valley was a major rail transport corridor (Northwestern Pacific Railroad) throughout the 20th century and also forms part of the route of Redwood Highway (US Highway 101).
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