Mohawk River | |
Name origin: Named for Mohawk Nation | |
Country | United States |
---|---|
State | New York |
Tributaries | |
- left | Lansing Kill, West Canada Creek, East Canada Creek |
- right | Oriskany Creek, Schoharie Creek, Plotter Kill |
Cities | Schenectady, Amsterdam, Utica, Rome |
Source | East Branch Mohawk River and West Branch Mohawk River |
- location | Ava, Oneida County, New York |
- elevation | 920 ft (280 m) |
- coordinates | 43°22′16″N 75°28′6″W / 43.37111°N 75.46833°W |
Mouth | Hudson River |
- elevation | 10 ft (3 m) |
- coordinates | 42°45′39″N 73°41′13″W / 42.76083°N 73.68694°WCoordinates: 42°45′39″N 73°41′13″W / 42.76083°N 73.68694°W |
Length | 149 mi (240 km) |
Basin | 3,412 sq mi (8,837 km2) |
Discharge | for Cohoes |
- average | 5,908 cu ft/s (167 m3/s) |
- max | 200,000 cu ft/s (5,663 m3/s) |
- min | 6 cu ft/s (0 m3/s) |
Hudson River watershed map showing the Mohawk River
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The Mohawk River is a 149-mile-long (240 km)river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk flows into the Hudson in the Capital District, a few miles north of the city of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy. It is a major waterway in north-central New York.
From its source in Lewis County, the Mohawk River flows generally east through the Mohawk Valley, passing by the cities of Rome, Utica, Little Falls, Canajoharie, Amsterdam, and Schenectady before entering the Hudson River at Cohoes, just north of Albany.
The river and its supporting canal, the Erie Canal (a part of the New York State Canal System, called the New York State Barge Canal for much of the 20th century), connect the Hudson River and port of New York with the Great Lakes at Buffalo, New York. The lower part of the Mohawk River has five permanent dams, nine movable dams (seasonal), and five active hydropower plants.