Salcha River

Salcha River
Salcha River is located in Alaska
Salcha River
Location of the mouth of the Salcha River in Alaska
Native nameSołchaget (Lower Tanana)
Location
CountryUnited States
StateAlaska
BoroughFairbanks North Star
Physical characteristics
SourceTanana Hills
 • locationslightly south of Steese National Conservation Area, northeastern Fairbanks North Star Borough
 • coordinates65°04′23″N 143°54′58″W / 65.07306°N 143.91611°W / 65.07306; -143.91611[1]
 • elevation4,054 ft (1,236 m)[2]
MouthTanana River[1]
 • location
33 miles (53 km) southeast of Fairbanks
 • coordinates
64°28′00″N 146°58′44″W / 64.46667°N 146.97889°W / 64.46667; -146.97889[1]
 • elevation
640 ft (200 m)[1]
Length125 mi (201 km)[1]
Basin size2,170 sq mi (5,600 km2)[3]
Discharge 
 • location2 miles (3.2 km) from the mouth[3]
 • average1,601 cu ft/s (45.3 m3/s)[3]
 • minimum60 cu ft/s (1.7 m3/s)
 • maximum97,000 cu ft/s (2,700 m3/s)

The Salcha River (Lower Tanana: Sołchaget) is a 125-mile (201 km) tributary of the Tanana River in the U.S. state of Alaska.[1] Rising in the eastern part of the Fairbanks North Star Borough east of Fort Wainwright, it flows generally west-southwest to meet the larger river at Aurora Lodge,[4] 33 miles (53 km) southeast of Fairbanks.[1]

The Salcha drains an area of 2,170 square miles (5,620 km2), making it the second-largest tributary of the Tanana.[5] The Trans-Alaska Pipeline crosses under the Salcha approximately 12 miles (19 km) east of the mouth of the river.[4]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Salcha River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. January 1, 2000. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  2. ^ Derived by entering source coordinates in Google Earth.
  3. ^ a b c "Water-Data Report 2012: USGS 15484000: Salcha River near Salchaket, AK" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  4. ^ a b Alaska Atlas & Gazetteer (7th ed.). Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. 2010. pp. 116, 127–28. ISBN 978-0-89933-289-5.
  5. ^ "Navigability of Salcha River in the Tanana River Region" (PDF). U.S. Bureau of Land Management. September 29, 2005. pp. 6–10. Retrieved October 26, 2013.