Talk:List of tributaries of the Columbia River

Name of article
Shouldn't this be List of tributaries of the Columbia River? Any plans to make it anything other than a list? -Pete 09:24, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

Why a table?
How come this list uses a table, and a sortable one at that, instead of a plain list? My guess is that the plan was to add columns for things like length and discharge, so one could resort the list on those values. If so, it may be hard to find enough sources to fill in all the values. Some of the rivers don't even have pages.

A tributary list I'd personally like to see, and could add, is a "hierarchical" list that includes tributaries of tributaries (not exhaustively). The Columbia's tributaries themselves often have tributaries themselves that are significant rivers in their own right. Also, the Columbia's tributary network is fairly confusing even when one looks at a map. The fact that its on the US-Canada border makes it harder as well, since too many sources (like the USGS) only describe streams in one country or the other. So I'm proposing a hierarchical tributary list to help those who, like me, have trouble understanding which streams connect to which. I'm thinking of something like Tennessee River; something like:
 * Snake River
 * Pend Oreille River
 * Clark Fork (river)
 * Blackfoot River (Montana)
 * Flathead River
 * Kootenay River
 * Elk River (British Columbia)

Since there is a whole page devoted to tributaries of the Columbia, we might as well add detail. In any case, I'll add this if I find the time, unless anyone thinks its a bad idea. Also, I agree that the page name should be "List of tributaries of the Columbia River", unless there's a good reason why not. Pfly 18:40, 9 May 2007 (UTC)


 * I did the hierarchy for the Oregon rivers, the majority of which are Columbia River tributaries, in List of rivers in Oregon. Be sure to grab from there instead of working it out on your own. —EncMstr 19:00, 9 May 2007 (UTC)


 * I converted the list to a table, and may have jumped the gun in doing so. There were two lists - one by sequence along the Columbia, and another (with the same rivers) alphabetically. I made a sortable table to "simplify" that, and (as Pfly posited) with the idea that data on each river might be added some day.


 * The table does make it difficult to add in new rivers without disrupting the order, and definitely makes the "hierarchical" structure now being discussed extra-cumbersome. So, go ahead and change it back...flesh it out...be bold! -Pete 20:00, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Ah ha, that makes sense given the two-list format from before. And now that I look at the history I see you added the table just a few days ago. Here I was thinking it was not nearly so recent. Sorry if I came off wrong. I think I will be bold and change to a hierarchical list (not sure what else to call it... recursive?). I think I have a fairly good list about ready to go. And thanks EncMstr for the pointer -- I'd looked at List of rivers in Oregon before, but apparently not close enough to realize there was a hierarchical list after the alphabetical one.

One thing I can't quite decide on is how detailed the list should be. My starting point was to include every stream that already has a page on wikipedia (although there are a few that seem quite minor). It's interesting how pages on rivers in Oregon are more thorough in coverage than rivers in Washington, and that more than rivers in Idaho or Montana. British Columbia has good coverage of the Fraser River system, but is pretty sparse on the Columbia system. So I figure I'd add redlinked rivers for those that seem worthy of someday having a page, at least as it occurs to me, for whatever random reason. In any case, feel free to edit. It's a big river basin, and I'm not all that familiar with large portions of it. Building this list has certainly shown me which rivers in the basin need attention on wikipedia!

I'm also thinking of including major "features", like lakes (how can one not include Lake Pend Oreille or Lake Coeur d'Alene?) and major dams.. at least dams that have turned the Columbia or a tributary into a significant lake, with a wikipedia page about it. But this might end up confusing, and beyond the topic of "tributaries of the Columbia River". Since I have the info already I'll probably add it, but please remove anything that seems confusing or beside the point! Pfly 04:29, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

An image to add
Here's a nice map of tributaries: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Washington/ColumbiaRiver/Maps/map_columbia_river_and_tributaries.html -Pete (talk) 05:36, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

notes on new map
I realize tehre's no room to label the Similkameen and Slocan Rivers, even though they're shown and you did manage to put the Duncan River's name on the map, but a couple of notes:
 * Kelowna is midway along Lake Okanagan, not at its southern end.
 * It looks like it is midway along the lake to me. Pfly (talk) 05:47, 26 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I see on second inspection that's the case; it's just that the lake to the south of Kelowna looks more like river as opposed to lake (and it actually is narrower to the south of Okanagan Mountain, which is the leftward bulge S of Kelowna); normally on BC maps this is resolved by always showing Vernon and Penticton to make the N-S ends of the lake...showing the Vernon arm of the lake probably complicates the mater - it's not that big ofa bay/inlet and looks a lot larger than it has to be; and each of those arms is definitely NOT as wide as what's ousth from Kelowna...Skookum1 (talk)


 * A small "spur" tributary on the Kootenay near Invermere does not exist AFAIK; the "spur" would appear to be where Columbia Lake is.
 * That does look odd to me, and does look like a probable Columbia Lake. Pfly (talk) 05:47, 26 September 2008 (UTC)


 * The Flathead River begins north of Flathead Lake in southeastern BC
 * I agree it would be nice, even useful to show the (North Fork) Flathead River reaching north into BC. This is a minor but notable point wrt the cross-border nature of the overall system. Pfly (talk) 05:47, 26 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Just to note that it's on the dams map.Skookum1 (talk)


 * Canadian Rockies tributaries are I gues too short to show well- the Kicking Horse River is highly notable, though, but I guess too short to show effectively
 * What's the tributary extending east from Golden? Is that Kicking Horse? Pfly (talk) 05:47, 26 September 2008 (UTC)
 * East, and crooked, yes; it's the route of the Trans-Canada Highway and the CPR.Skookum1 (talk)


 * The Elk and Vermilion Rivers would be good to show, even though they're feeder streams for the Kootenay and not the Columbia; the Elk's pretty large and like the Clark Fork and Flathead are tributaries-of-tributaries.Skookum1 (talk) 19:54, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I would also like to see the Elk River. It's long and there is room. On the Vermilion, if I recall its location correctly, may not fit well on this map. Pfly (talk) 05:47, 26 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Yeah I suppose so with the Vermilion; and re the Elk, the Bull is of similar size but the two of them together would be too "crushed"; the Bull would be relevant on a dams map though....other thoughts is that, while I realize size-of-city is an issue for what's shown, I think Cranbrook should definitely be on there as the largest city on the upper Kootenay/in the East Kootenay; I realize Corvallis, etc which aren't on the Columbia are on the map because of their size; relative size in Canada is an issue - our designated cities are often smaller than designated towns in the US.....Nelson I realize would be a little squished to fit in next to Trail and Castlegar, as discussed I suppose previously, but it looks odd not to have it on there as it's of equivalent importance as Trail and Castlegar (actually it's the most important of the three). Also, since it's the only other town of any size on the Canadian portion of the Columbia, might as well put Nakusp on there....as there is room....Skookum1 (talk) 16:32, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

While on the topic, and even though I think this is a most excellent map and am quite content with it, were it to be edited/added to, there's room for a couple of the larger Snake River tributaries in south-central and eastern Idaho, at least the linework if not the labels, like the Malad River-Big Wood River and perhaps something like the Portneuf River (Idaho). But this is not a request, just an observation. Pfly (talk) 23:13, 26 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I just noticed these comments now. I'm using the same base map for the new dams map I'm working on and should be able to incorporate these suggestions into that one and update this one at the same time. Kmusser (talk) 13:29, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

Quite a long list
My apologies if this page has become quite long. I admit to using it as a personal way to keep track of the overall Columbia system. My recent addition of a number of dams is an example-- this page is the easiest way for me to keep track of where in the system each tributary and dam is located. If it gets unwieldy certain things could be removed, the dams perhaps most of all. In time I hope to shift a lot of them over to List of dams in the Columbia River watershed. That page needs a bit of organization now that the name has been changed. A section for "mainstem dams" for the existing content, then perhaps sections or subsections under a "Tributaries" section perhaps, for other dams. Some variation of chart would be useful too. I'll get to it eventually, sooner or later. Pfly (talk) 05:47, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Some BC rivers to make pages for and add
If only to remind myself:
 * Halfway River,
 * Akolkolex River,
 * Jordan River,
 * Cummins River,
 * Kinbasket River,
 * Sullivan River,

Who can resist writing about a river called "Akolkolex"?? Pfly (talk) 08:26, 13 October 2009 (UTC)