Samish River

The Samish River (Lushootseed: sqʷəɬqʷalič) is approximately 25 miles (40 km) long, in northwestern Washington in the United States. The river drains an area of 139 square miles (360 km²) between the Skagit River basin on the south and the Nooksack River basin on the north. The Samish River originates on a low divide in Whatcom County, and its tributary, Friday Creek, originates in the hills south of Bellingham. The river continues its southwesterly flow through Skagit County and outlets into Samish Bay in Puget Sound.

Samish River sqʷəɬqʷalič
Samish River near Edison, Washington.
Location of the mouth of the Samish River in Washington Show map of Washington (state) Samish River (the United States) Show map of the United States
Location
Country	United States
State	Washington
City	Edison, Washington
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Washington, United States
Mouth	Samish Bay
• location	Washington, United States
• coordinates	48°33′27″N 122°27′59″W
Length	25 mi (40 km)
Basin size	139 sq mi (360 km2)
Discharge
• location	USGS gage 12201500 near Burlington, WA[1]
• average	245 cu ft/s (6.9 m3/s)[1]
• minimum	15 cu ft/s (0.42 m3/s)
• maximum	5,020 cu ft/s (142 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Friday Creek

The Samish River supports a large variety of fish and is home to one of Washington's larger fall King Salmon runs. The Samish River has runs of five Salmon and three trout species including: Spring/Winter Steelhead, Summer Sockeye,^[2] Fall Chinook/Chum/Coho, and year-round runs of Cutthroat, and Dolly Varden. Also documented are Pink Salmon which, while rare, do arrive in small numbers to spawn in the Samish.^[3]

There are two fish hatcheries supporting the Samish River. One located in the upper Samish directly below the mouth of Friday Creek, and another several miles up Friday Creek. Both hatcheries raise Fall Chinook and can process over 10,000,000 salmon smolt a year, 5-20,000 of those returning 1–5 years later to spawn as adults.

The river is named after the Samish people. The Nuwhaha, today part of the Samish and the Upper Skagit, had several villages along the river. The name in their language, Lushootseed, is sqʷəɬqʷalič.^[4]

See also

• List of rivers of Washington (state)
• Samish people

References

1. "Water Resources Data-Washington Water Year 2005; Samish River and Whatcom Creek Basins" (PDF). USGS. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
2. "River Sockeye In Puget Sound". Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Archived from the original on 2008-02-14. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
3. "SalmonScape". Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
4. Bates, Dawn; Hess, Thom; Hilbert, Vi (1994). Lushootseed Dictionary. Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-295-97323-4. OCLC 29877333.