C >A N A A 



O RE G O N 



Figure 1. — Wenatchee River Basin (Location map) 



mountains. It contains approximately 1,310 

 square miles (Washington Department of Con- 

 servation Development, Division of Water 

 Resources, 1955). Of the three mountain 

 masses forming the boundary of the basin, 

 the Cascade and Wenatchee mountains jire of 

 extremely rugged topography with the moun- 

 tain ridges separated in places by deeply 

 eroded valleys. The highest peak in the 

 area is Mt. Stuart, 9,470 feet high, with 

 the general elevation of the two ranges 

 being around 6,000 feet. 



The Entiat mountains, which form the 

 boundary on the north and east, are of less 

 rugged topography. They are characterized 

 by narrow, flat-topped ridges or plateaus 

 and flanked by precipitous slopes descending 

 to deep canyons. In elevation they range 

 from 2,500 to 4,500 feet (fig. 2). 



The basin ccin be divided into two 

 smaller regions, the upper and lower valleyw 



The upper valley is characterized by a more 

 rugged, heavily forested topography, vrfiich 

 is occasionally broken by smaller tributary 

 valleys. It is a mountainous area, with 

 lowlands found only along the many small 

 strejuns which have eroded small valleys in 

 their course to the Wenatchee River. Lake 

 Wenatchee is an outstanding feature of the 

 upper valley. The lower, broad smd open 

 valley extends from the town of Leavenworth 

 to the confluence of the Wenatchee and 

 Columbia Rivers at Wenatchee, a distance of 

 around 22 miles. 



The main tributaries to the Wenatchee 

 River progressing downstream are Little 

 Wenatchee River, White River, Nason Creek, 

 Chiwawa River, Chiwaukum Creek, Icicle 

 Creek, Chumstick Creek, Peshastin Creek, 

 and Mission Creek. 



Topogr^hy affects the runoff and 

 water quality of a stream. A terrain 



