slgwv's photos with the keyword: channel

On Mud Slough, Nevada. See adjacent photo for a description of Mud Slough.

Sand dune encroaching on the Jeep road along Mud Slough, Nevada. Sand dunes are not common in the deserts of the Great Basin, but they occur in places. The stickery light tan bush is tumbleweed (Russian thistle)--it's one of history's little ironies that this obnoxious invader weed has become an icon of the American west. The inset shows tumbleweeds on the dune slip face.

In Mud Slough, NV, victims of the diversion of the Truckee River in the early 20th century for irrigation.

In Mud Slough, NV, victims of the diversion of the Truckee River in the early 20th century for irrigation.

Not too muddy now! This was a former distributary channel for the Truckee River, which today only flows into landlocked Pyramid Lake. It used to occasionally overflow this way, however, and fill a shallow basin in the valley east of Pyramid Lake to form Winnemucca Lake. However, when the Newlands Irrigation Project was constructed in the early 20th century, part of the Truckee was diverted for irrigation, and there wasn't enough flow remaining to spill thru this channel even in the wettest years. So it all dried up. The channel is still well-defined in the satellite view. The stumps are of cottonwood trees that used to line the channel; obviously there was enough water for them back then year-to-year. They probably were sawed up for firewood after they died. The insets show closeups of some of the stumps. The dead brown bushes are tumbleweed (aka Russian thistle), one of the most obnoxious invader weeds to afflict the American west. It was probably considerably nicer before the diversion-- ;) EDIT: In answer to a question by Don Barrett: Mud Slough doesn't channel runoff even during extraordinary water years like the last season. At this point it would take civil engineering to send water this way again. As the level of Pyramid Lake dropped due to the diversions, the Truckee incised its channel to the point that it's now considerably below the level of Mud Slough.

Erosional channel feeding into Washoe Lake. The black object at lower right is a dog!

Due to the flooding here recently, water ponded locally behind a line of partially stabilized sand dunes just east of Washoe Lake. With the successive storms, the ponds got deeper until they spilled over at some low places, flowing out to the main lake and carving channels in the process. This is one such place. The left inset shows this point just before the storm that finally caused spillover. Note the two square posts in the foreground with the angled cut, painted yellow, at the top. The left one, in my shadow, was washed completely away. (In case you’re wondering, they were part of a horse obstacle course.) The middle inset shows this channel leading out into Washoe Lake (i.e., from this point looking the opposite direction), and the right inset is a close-up of the stream when it was actively flowing into the lake. The current was strong enough to push away the waves raised by the wind. Geology in action!

Main distribution channel for the Columbia Basin (irrigation) Project. Water pumped up from the Columbia River is released from Banks Lake, the storage reservoir, to head south, in many cases using existing Scabland channels left by Ice Age floods. Washington state, USA.