Latah Creek

Latah Creek
Hangman Creek[1]
Ice-jam break up on Latah Creek, 2005
Latah Creek is located in Washington (state)
Latah Creek
Location of the mouth of Latah Creek in Washington
Latah Creek is located in the United States
Latah Creek
Latah Creek (the United States)
Native name
Location
CountryUnited States
StateWashington, Idaho
CitiesDeSmet, ID, Tekoa, WA, Latah, WA, Spokane, WA
Physical characteristics
SourceCharles Butte
 • locationBenewah County, Idaho
 • coordinates47°06′53″N 116°43′0″W / 47.11472°N 116.71667°W / 47.11472; -116.71667
 • elevation3,600 ft (1,100 m)[2]
MouthSpokane River
 • location
Spokane, Spokane County, Washington
 • coordinates
47°39′36″N 117°27′28″W / 47.66000°N 117.45778°W / 47.66000; -117.45778
 • elevation
1,700 ft (520 m)[2]
Length60 mi (97 km)
Basin size673 sq mi (1,740 km2)
Discharge 
 • locationSpokane[3]
 • average231 cu ft/s (6.5 m3/s)[3]
 • minimum10 cu ft/s (0.28 m3/s)
 • maximum21,200 cu ft/s (600 m3/s)
Basin features
ProgressionSpokane RiverColumbia RiverPacific Ocean
Tributaries 
 • leftSouth Fork Latah/Hangman Creek, Sheep Creek, Marshall Creek, Garden Springs Creek
 • rightIndian Creek, Little Latah/Hangman Creek, Rock Creek, Cove Creek, Rattler Run Creek, California Creek, Stevens Creek

Latah Creek (/ˈltə/ LAY-tə), also known as Hangman Creek,[1] is a large stream in eastern Washington and north central Idaho in the United States. The creek flows northwest from the Rocky Mountains to Spokane, where it empties into the Spokane River. It drains 673 square miles (1,740 km2) in parts of Benewah and Kootenai counties in Idaho, Spokane County and a small portion of Whitman County in Washington, where over 64 percent of its watershed resides. Some major tributaries of the approximately 60-mile (97 km) creek include Little Latah Creek (also known as Little Hangman Creek) and Rock Creek. The average flow of the creek can range from 20 cubic feet per second (0.57 m3/s) to 20,000 cubic feet per second (570 m3/s).[4][5] Latah Creek receives its name from a Nez Perce word likely meaning "fish". In 1854, the creek received another name, Hangman Creek, from a war between the Palouse Indians and white soldiers, which resulted in several Palouse being hanged alongside the creek.

The Latah Creek watershed is dominated by agriculture, which has released large amounts of sediment from the surrounding Palouse soils into the watershed on an annual basis. This has caused the ruin of natural fish populations, riparian zones, and natural flow patterns. The creek has been channelized in some places, and meanders, islands and natural channel formations have been destroyed. In response to these damaging factors, the water quality overall in the Latah Creek basin is quite low, and "Washington State water quality standards for temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and fecal coliforms are routinely violated."[6] The remaining third of the land in the watershed is mostly forest.[7]

  1. ^ a b c "Hangman (Latah) Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
  2. ^ a b Fesenmyer, Kurt; Reinke, Drew (2014). "Hangman Creek Conservation Success Index: Opportunities for Redband Trout Restoration and Protection" (PDF). fs.usda.gov. Trout Unlimited. p. 2. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  3. ^ a b Based on average of 59 water years, from 1949 to 2008; statistics from USGS website
  4. ^ "Hangman (Latah) Creek Watershed Planning Project: Project Map". Sccd.org. Spokane County Conservation District. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-18. Note: The creek length is an estimate from this map scale.
  5. ^ "Hangman (Latah) Creek Watershed Planning Project". Sccd.org. Spokane County Conservation District. Archived from the original on April 17, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
  6. ^ "The Hangman (Latah) Creek Water Resources and Management Plan" (PDF). Sccd.org. Spokane County Conservation District. 19 May 2005. Retrieved 2014-05-28.
  7. ^ "Latah Creek". Spokanecounty.org. Spokane Basin Watershed Planning. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2014-05-28.