Term Paper on "Snake River"

Term Paper 12 pages (3074 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Snake River is part of the larger Columbia River system. The natural ecology of the Snake River has been altered by the placement of dams on the river, altering the way Salmon move through the entire region and raising a number of questions about whether the dams are doing more harm than good. The Snake River is the main tributary of the Columbia River and extends some 1028 miles through both Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. The river originates in Wyoming. The river empowers a number of hydroelectric plants along its route and so is a vital energy source for the country. The ecology of the Snake River has changed as a result of many of the projects along the length of the river, including the aforementioned series of dams and possible pollutants from the hydroelectric plants as well as from other environmental challenges in the region.

The Snake River

The Snake River was first discovered by whites when the Lewis and Clark Expedition crossed it early in the nineteenth century. The name of the river is a source of some speculation, with one theory being that it derives from an S-shaped snake sign that the Shoshone Indians made with their hands to mimic swimming salmon. Other names used for the river inlcude the Great Snake River, Lewis Fork, Lewis River, Mad River, Saptin River, Shoshone River, and Yam-pah-pa.

The Columbia River system drains a 259,000-square-mile basin covering territory in seven states (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, and Utah) and one Canadian province (Columbia River 2005). This river is probably the most significant environmental force in the Pacific Northwest, flowing more than 1,200 miles from the base of the Canadian Rockies in southeastern British Columbia to the Pacific Ocean at Astoria, Oregon, and Ilwaco, Washington. Human beings have inhabited the region along the river for more than 10,000 years, but modern engineering in the 19th and 20th centuries has dramatically altered the Columbia River, so much so that some scientists today believe that the river is environmentally threatened and that drastic action should be taken to reverse the changes made to the Columbia over the last 150 years.

Human beings were present in the region beginning 10,000 years ago, as noted, and they first followed trails across the land made by migrating wildlife. This would have included elk and bison. Long-term residenc=y was not possible given the harshness of the winters, but nomadic tribes would move through the region at different times of the year. It was only in the 1890s that people made the area a year-round residence in the Grand Teton region. Erarlier momadic groups made use of the valley to harvest its meadoes for wild plants and edible roots, and the big game population was not large enough to support more than occasional hunting. Thes eearly peoples left the region between AD 1000 and 1600, to be replaced by tribes of Shoshone, Crow, Gros Ventre, and Blackfeet, groups that were also infreqeunt visitors to the Grand Tetons. Lewis and Clark passed through and returned to the east in 1806, after which expedition member John Colter returned to join a group of hunters looking for beaver along the upper Yellowstone River. A survey expedition came to the area in 1840 led by Jim Bridger, gatehring information on native tribes, farming and mining possibilities, and potential railroad routes. In 1872, President Grant named Yellowstone the first national park, beginning the tourism industry in the area and drawing many people who decided to stay.

The Homestead Act of 1862 contributed to the move of some into these kinds of area, with many settling around Jackson Hole in spite of poor grazing and farming conditions. In 1943, President Roosevelt named 221,000 acrs east of the Snake River the Jackson Hole National Monument. After years of contention, the federal government reimbursed owners for the land being aded to the monument and settled the issue (Human history in the Tetons 2001).

Comments on the mechanics of the Snake River have been made for dedcades, with early references noting the turgidity of the waters in some reagions and considering the issue of sedimentation. The changes that have been made in the river have also contributed to shifts in the patterns of sedimentation, and it was recently noted that some 100 to 150 million cubic yards of sediment have been deposited upstream of the four lower Snake River dams since the Ice Harbor project became operational in the early 1960s, meaning that one million cubic yards of sediment will cover a section of land (one square mile) to a depth of approximately 1 foot as a result. It has been determined that a breach in the four lower Snake River dams would allow approximately 50% of the previously deposited materials to be eroded and transported by the Snake River within the first few years after dam breaching. It is likely that the eroded materials would then be redeposited in Lake Wallula between the Snake River and Wallula Gap. McNary Dam's backwater pool extends up to Ice Harbor Dam, meaning that the very coarsest cobble materials could then be left in the vicinity of Ice Harbor Dam, although they could be subject to resuspension and further transport downstream to Lake Wallula at a later date by floods at a higher level than existed at the time they were first deposited (Lower Snake River Sedimentation 2005).

In this process, the coarsest sediments would be deposited first, with the sediment deposits becoming progressively finer as they are transported further downstream into Lake Wallula. At one time, these materials were deposited behind the lower Snake River dams. Because the flow velocities in Lake Wallula are generally lower than those in the Snake River, it is likely that most of these sediments will be deposited in Lake Wallula rather than being transported downstream of McNary Dam. The problem could increase because the rest of the sediments deposited earlier upstream of the lower Snake River dams and not eroded within the first few years of dam breaching would now be affected by long-term erosion by wind and rain. These could also be transported downstream in time by the Snake River to Lake Wallula, again adding to the deposits in that body of water (Lower Snake River Sedimentation 2005).

The Columbia River system includes the watershed, from which it is ecologically inseparable. The watershed is defined as the land area around the river that delivers runoff, sediment, and dissolved substances to the river and its tributaries. How healthy the watershed may be affects the temperature, flow rate, aquatic life, and other physical components of the river itself (The Columbia River Basin watershed and its ecosystems 2005). The watershed for the Columbia system covers seven states and one Canadian province, with the northernmost reach found in the high glaciers of the Canadian Rockies. The main body (or stem) of the Columbia River then runs over a thousand miles to empty into the Pacific, and as the river runs south and west, it is fed by many smaller rivers before being joined by the Snake River in Pasco, Washington. The Columbia River turns sharply west near there and forms a natural border between Washington and Oregon. The Snake is the largest of the rivers feeding into the Columbia River, and indeed the streams and small rivers feeding into the Snake represent 49% of the Columbia River Basins watershed below the Canadian border. The watershed covers nearly 260,000 square miles (The Columbia River Basin watershed and its ecosystems 2005).

High rates of rain from the hydrologic cycle give the watershed a seasonal supply of water. The rain that does not soak into the ground becomes runoff, and the runoff from the watershed fills the rivers, streams, wetlands, and lakes of the region. Some of the rain that seeps into the ground evaporates, but gravity draws other water deeper into the earth, at times creating an underground river. This groundwater gathers in layers of underground rock and eventually becomes an aquifer, of which there are many in the Columbia River Basin (The Columbia River Basin watershed and its ecosystems 2005).

These rivers are also involved with what is called the riparian zone, meaning the border of moist soils and plants found next to a body of water. This zone may consist of gently sloping shores, steep banks, or other types of terrain. As one travels down the river, such forces as geologic differences, altitude, varied river flow, and the types of organisms and vegetation that can survive and thrive from area to area cause changes in the nature of the river and the species which migrate to it. In the area downstream, the channel widens, the gradient flattens, and the water slows, and in such areas, more permanent plant species can survive, such as tree and shrub communities and specialized grasses and forbs (non-grasslike herbs). In turn, these plant species serve to provide food and shelter for the rich diversity of wildlife… READ MORE

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