Fanno Creek

Fanno Creek
Fanno Creek in Greenway Park, Beaverton
Fanno Creek watershed
Fanno Creek is located in Oregon
Fanno Creek
Location of the mouth of Fanno Creek in Oregon
EtymologyAugustus Fanno, early settler
Location
CountryUnited States
StateOregon
CountyMultnomah and Washington
Physical characteristics
SourceTualatin Mountains (West Hills)
 • locationPortland, Multnomah County, Oregon
 • coordinates45°28′44″N 122°42′00″W / 45.47889°N 122.70000°W / 45.47889; -122.70000[1]
 • elevation478 ft (146 m)[2]
MouthTualatin River
 • location
Durham, Washington County, Oregon
 • coordinates
45°23′35″N 122°45′50″W / 45.39306°N 122.76389°W / 45.39306; -122.76389[1]
 • elevation
108 ft (33 m)[1]
Length15 mi (24 km)[3]
Basin size31.7 sq mi (82 km2)[3]
Discharge 
 • locationDurham, 1.13 miles (1.82 km) from mouth[4]
 • average43.9 cu ft/s (1.24 m3/s)[4]
 • minimum1 cu ft/s (0.028 m3/s)
 • maximum1,670 cu ft/s (47 m3/s)

Fanno Creek is a 15-mile (24 km) tributary of the Tualatin River in the U.S. state of Oregon.[3] Part of the drainage basin of the Columbia River, its watershed covers about 32 square miles (83 km2) in Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties, including about 7 square miles (18 km2) within the Portland city limits.

From its headwaters in the Tualatin Mountains (West Hills) in southwest Portland, the creek flows generally west and south through the cities of Portland, Beaverton, Tigard and Durham, and unincorporated areas of Washington County. It enters the Tualatin River about 9 miles (14 km) above the Tualatin's confluence with the Willamette River at West Linn.

When settlers of European origin arrived, the Kalapuya lived in the area, having displaced the Multnomahs in pre-contact times. In 1847, the first settler of European descent, Augustus Fanno, for whom the creek is named, established an onion farm in what became Beaverton. Fanno Farmhouse, the restored family home, is a Century Farm on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of 16 urban parks in a narrow corridor along the creek.

Although heavily polluted, the creek supports aquatic life, including coastal cutthroat trout (leopard spotted) in its upper reaches. Watershed councils such as the Fans of Fanno Creek and government agencies have worked to limit pollution and to restore native vegetation in riparian zones.

  1. ^ a b c "Fanno Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
  2. ^ Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.
  3. ^ a b c "Fanno Creek Watershed". Bureau of Environmental Services, City of Portland. 2008. Retrieved May 5, 2008.
  4. ^ a b "Water-Data Report 2011: USGS 14206950 Fanno Creek at Durham, OR" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved November 23, 2012.