Colville River (Alaska)
The Colville River (/ˈkoʊlvɪl/; Inupiat: Kuukpik) is a major river of the Arctic Ocean coast of Alaska in the United States, approximately 350 miles (560 km) long. One of the northernmost major rivers in North America, it drains a remote area of tundra on the north side of the Brooks Range entirely above the Arctic Circle in the southwestern corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The river is frozen for more than half the year and floods each spring.The Colville River and its adjacent hills are home to a variety of Arctic wildlife, including Lake Teshekpuk and Central Arctic caribou herds, and hawks.
| Colville River | |
|---|---|
Inupiat family on Colville River, 1901 | |
Colville River course and drainage basin in northern Alaska. | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alaska |
| Borough | North Slope |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Confluence of Thunder and Storm creeks |
| • location | North slope of the De Long Mountains |
| • coordinates | 68°49′01″N 160°21′14″W |
| • elevation | 2,017 ft (615 m) |
| Mouth | Harrison Bay, Beaufort Sea, Arctic Ocean |
• location | Northeast of Nuiqsut |
• coordinates | 70°26′46″N 150°21′28″W |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Length | 350 mi (560 km) |
| Basin size | 20,500 sq mi (53,000 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Umiat, Alaska |
| • average | 10,192 cu ft/s (288.6 m3/s) |
| • maximum | 268,000 cu ft/s (7,600 m3/s) |
As of March 2023, the Department of Interior permitted ConocoPhillips to build a new ice road from Kuparuk River Oil Field drill site and use a partially grounded ice bridge across the Colville River near Ocean Point "to transport sealift modules" to its Willow project oil drilling area.