The River Headwaters

Headwaters | Logging and road impacts | Howard Hanson Dam

The Northwest is well known for its generous precipitation. Water is held like a sponge in the high Cascades by older forests. These forests naturally buffer the watershed downstream from floods in the winter and release water slowly in the summer to help augment river flow through periods of draught. This is the rivers primary source, where it all begins. What happens in the upper watershed, the quantity, the quality, of the water released up here, affects everything down stream.

For more detailed information regarding the Upper Green Subwatershed: http://dnr.metrokc.gov/Wrias/9/UpperGreen.htm

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