Elk River (West Virginia)

River in West Virginia, United States

Elk River

Elk River in Charleston, West Virginia

A map of Elk River and its watershed

Location
Country| United States
State| West Virginia
Counties| Pocahontas, Randolph, Webster, Braxton, Clay, Kanawha
Physical characteristics
Source| Old Field Fork
• location| Elk Mountain, Pocahontas County
• coordinates| 38°18′24″N 80°06′18″W﻿ / ﻿38.30667°N 80.10500°W﻿ / 38.30667; -80.10500
• elevation| 3,557 ft (1,084 m)[1]
2nd source| Big Spring Fork
• location| Pocahontas County
• coordinates| 38°22′32″N 80°00′34″W﻿ / ﻿38.37556°N 80.00944°W﻿ / 38.37556; -80.00944
• elevation| 3,655 ft (1,114 m)[2]
Source confluence|
• location| Slatyfork
• coordinates| 38°25′08″N 80°07′48″W﻿ / ﻿38.41889°N 80.13000°W﻿ / 38.41889; -80.13000
• elevation| 2,667 ft (813 m)[3]
Mouth| Kanawha River[4]

• location

| Charleston

• coordinates

| 38°21′18″N 81°38′42″W﻿ / ﻿38.35500°N 81.64500°W﻿ / 38.35500; -81.64500

• elevation

| 574 ft (175 m)
Length| 172 mi (277 km)[5]
Discharge|
• location| Queen Shoals[6]
• average| 2,650 cu ft/s (75 m3/s)[6]
• minimum| 271 cu ft/s (7.7 m3/s)(1976)
• maximum| 14,000 cu ft/s (400 m3/s)(1972)
Basin features
Tributaries|
• left| Birch River
• right| Holly River

The Elk River is a tributary of the Kanawha River, 172 miles (277 km) long,[5] in central West Virginia in the United States. Via the Kanawha and Ohio rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.

## Course

[edit]

The Elk is formed in the Allegheny Mountains in Pocahontas County by the confluence of two short streams, the Big Spring Fork and the Old Field Fork, which join near the community of Slatyfork. It flows above ground for several miles before it sinks into a network of caverns and flows underground for more than five miles. The old riverbed of solid rock, however, remains above ground in this section known as "The Dries." It follows a generally westward course across the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau, through Randolph, Webster, Braxton, Clay, and Kanawha Counties, past the towns of Webster Springs, Sutton, Gassaway, Clay, Clendenin, and Elkview before joining the Kanawha River at Charleston.

At Sutton, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concrete dam causes the Elk to form Sutton Lake.

The Elk's largest tributaries are the Holly River and the Birch River, both of which join it in Braxton County.

The upper portion of the river, above Sutton Lake, is a popular coldwater trout stream. Some reports of a 2013 Wake Forest University study of selenium contamination in Sutton Lake in North Carolina (allegedly due to coal ash from the Sutton power plant of Duke Energy). erroneously attributed this contamination to Sutton Lake in West Virginia.[7] Sutton Lake in North Carolina is on the Cape Fear River; whereas Sutton Lake in West Virginia is on the Elk River, an entirely different river drainage basin. [8] [9]

Below Sutton Lake, is a high-gradient warmwater fishery well known for its muskellunge, walleye and smallmouth bass fishing. The Elk River serves as the source of water for 1500 miles of pipeline that carry its water to customers in central and southwestern West Virginia.[10]

## Name

[edit]

Elk River near its mouth in Charleston in 2001

The river's name most likely comes from the Native Americans of the area, who saw great numbers of elk near the stream.[11]

According to the Geographic Names Information System, the Elk River has also been known historically as:

* Pe-quo-ni
* Pe-quo-ni-cepe
* Pequoni
* Tis-chil-waugh
* Tiskelewah
* Tiskelwah
* To-que-man
* To-qui-min-cepe

## History

[edit]

### Chemical spill

[edit]

Main article: 2014 Elk River chemical spill

In January 2014 a spill of the chemical 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, a foaming agent used as a wash component in the coal-preparation process, required West Virginia authorities to supply water to as many as 300,000 people in nine of the state's counties.[12] The effect of the Elk River chemical spill to the critically endangered diamond darter fish, known only to live in the Elk River, is still unknown.[13]

## Recreation

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### Fishing

[edit]

Multiple West Virginia state record fish were caught along the Elk River.[14][15][16]

## See also

[edit]

* Kanawha River
* List of West Virginia rivers
* List of West Virginia State Fishing Records

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "USGS Elevation Query: Old Field Fork Source". U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2008-04-22.[permanent dead link‍]
2. ^ "USGS Elevation Query: Big Spring Fork Source". U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2008-04-22.[permanent dead link‍]
3. ^ "USGS Elevation Query: Elk River Source Confluence". U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2008-04-22.[permanent dead link‍]
4. ^ "Elk River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
5. ^ a b "Columbia Gazetteer of North America: Elk River". Columbia University Press. 2000. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
6. ^ a b "USGS 03197000 ELK RIVER AT QUEEN SHOALS, WV". U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
7. ^ Lemly, A.D., 2013, study for the Southern Environmental Law Center, pdf Archived 2013-12-28 at the Wayback Machine
8. ^ Charlotte Observer, "Duke's coal ash kills, deforms fish, study says", 12/03/13 [1] Archived 2014-01-10 at the Wayback Machine.
9. ^ Thinkprogress, 12/04/13 [2].
10. ^ CNN, "In parts of West Virginia, water is only for flushing": retrieved 10 January 2013
11. ^ Kenny, Hamill (1945). West Virginia Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning, Including the Nomenclature of the Streams and Mountains. Piedmont, WV: The Place Name Press. p. 229.
12. ^ Washington Post "Chemical spill into W.Va. river spurs closures, run on bottled water" 10 January 2014
13. ^ Stuart A. Welsh & Robert M. Wood (14 Jan 2008). "Crystallaria cincotta, a new species of darter (Teleostei: Percidae) from the Elk River of the Ohio River drainage, West Virginia". ZOOTAXA ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) (Magnolia Press) (1680 (2008)): 62–68
14. ^ "West Virginia Fishing Records". West Virginia DNR. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
15. ^ "West Virginia Fishing Records". Land Big Fish. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
16. ^ Kirk, Sam (January 10, 2024). "West Virginia DNR creates 5 new state fishing record categories". WBOY. Retrieved August 25, 2024.

## Further reading

[edit]

* DeLorme (1997). West Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-246-3.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elk River (West Virginia).

* West Virginia Encyclopedia.org: Elk River website
* Army Corps of Engineers.mil: Sutton Lake website

* v
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Monongahela National Forest

National Recreation Areas|

* Spruce Knob–Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area

Wilderness areas|

* Big Draft Wilderness
* Cranberry Wilderness
* Dolly Sods Wilderness
* Laurel Fork North Wilderness
* Laurel Fork South Wilderness
* Otter Creek Wilderness
* Roaring Plains West Wilderness
* Spice Run Wilderness

Mountains and summits|

* Allegheny Front
* Allegheny Mountain
* Back Allegheny Mountain
* Backbone Mountain
* Barton Knob
* Burner Mountain
* Bickle Knob
* Champe Rocks
* Cheat Mountain
* Gaudineer Knob
* Mount Porte Crayon
* North Fork Mountain
* River Knobs
* Seneca Rocks
* Shavers Mountain
* Spruce Knob
* Spruce Mountain

Rivers and creeks|

* Big Run
* Black Fork
* Blackwater River
* Cheat River
* Cranberry River
* Dry Fork
* Elk River
* Gauley River
* Glady Fork
* Greenbrier River
* Laurel Fork
* Seneca Creek
* South Branch Potomac River
* Shavers Fork
* Tygart Valley River
* Williams River

Canyons and valleys|

* Blackwater Canyon
* Canaan Valley
* Germany Valley
* Smoke Hole Canyon

Lakes and bogs|

* Lake Sherwood
* Spruce Knob Lake
* Summit Lake
* Cranberry Glades

Observation towers|

* Bickle Knob
* Olson Tower

Other features|

* Bear Rocks Preserve
* Camp Allegheny
* Cheat Summit Fort
* Fernow Experimental Forest
* Gaudineer Scenic Area
* Highland Scenic Highway
* Middle Mountain Cabins
* Mill Point Federal Prison
* Sinks of Gandy

US Forest Service

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* United States
* Israel

Other|

* NARA

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