Feather River
The Feather River is the principal tributary of the Sacramento River, in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. The river's main stem is about 73 miles (117 km) long. Its length to its most distant headwater tributary is just over 210 miles (340 km). The main stem Feather River begins in Lake Oroville, where its four long tributary forks join—the South Fork, Middle Fork, North Fork, and West Branch Feather Rivers. These and other tributaries drain part of the northern Sierra Nevada, and the extreme southern Cascades, as well as a small portion of the Sacramento Valley. The total drainage basin is about 6,200 square miles (16,000 km2), with approximately 3,604 square miles (9,330 km2) above Lake Oroville.
| Feather River Río de las Plumas | |
|---|---|
The Feather River near its confluence with the Bear River | |
Map of the Feather River watershed. The artificially connected Sutter Basin and Butte Creek drainage basins are indicated in yellow. | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Region | Butte County, Yuba County, Sutter County |
| Cities | Oroville, Yuba City, Marysville |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | North Fork Feather River |
| • location | Confluence of Rice Creek and South Arm Rice Creek, Plumas County |
| • coordinates | 40°21′47″N 121°27′05″W |
| • length | 111 mi (179 km) |
| • elevation | 5,436 ft (1,657 m) |
| 2nd source | Middle Fork Feather River |
| • location | Near Beckwourth, Sierra Valley, Plumas County |
| • coordinates | 39°48′49″N 120°22′46″W |
| • length | 129 mi (208 km) |
| • elevation | 4,872 ft (1,485 m) |
| Source confluence | Lake Oroville |
| • location | Upstream of Oroville Dam |
| • coordinates | 39°32′14″N 121°29′00″W |
| • elevation | 902 ft (275 m) |
| Mouth | Sacramento River |
• location | Verona |
• coordinates | 38°47′08″N 121°37′17″W |
• elevation | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
| Length | 73 mi (117 km), North-south |
| Basin size | 6,197 sq mi (16,050 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Nicolaus |
| • average | 8,321 cu ft/s (235.6 m3/s) |
| • minimum | 222 cu ft/s (6.3 m3/s) |
| • maximum | 357,000 cu ft/s (10,100 m3/s) |
| Basin features | |
| River system | Sacramento River Basin |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Yuba River, Bear River |
| • right | Sutter Bypass |
National Wild and Scenic River | |
| Type | Wild, Scenic, Recreational |
| Designated | October 2, 1968 |
The Feather River and its forks were a center of gold mining during the 19th century. Since the 1960s, the river has provided water to central and southern California, as the main source of water for the California State Water Project. Its water is also used for hydroelectricity generation. The average annual flow of the Feather River is more than 7 million acre feet (3.3 km3).
The Feather is unique in that two of its tributaries, the East Branch and Middle Fork, originate east of the Sierra Nevada in the Diamond Mountains and breach the crest of the Sierra as they flow west.