Cranberry River (West Virginia)

The Cranberry River is a tributary of the Gauley River located in southeastern West Virginia in the United States.[5] It is a part of the Mississippi River watershed, by way of the Gauley, Kanawha, and Ohio Rivers, draining an area of 74 square miles (192 km2).[2]

Cranberry River
High water near Big Rock Campground in Monongahela National Forest
Location
CountryUnited States
StateWest Virginia
CountiesPocahontas, Webster, Nicholas
Physical characteristics
SourceSouth Fork Cranberry River
 • locationCranberry Mountain, Pocahontas County
 • coordinates38°12′48″N 80°13′14″W
 • elevation3,890 ft (1,190 m)
2nd sourceNorth Fork Cranberry River
 • locationBlack Mountain, Pocahontas County
 • coordinates38°14′03″N 80°14′32″W
 • elevation4,364 ft (1,330 m)
Source confluence 
 • locationPocahontas County
 • coordinates38°15′28″N 80°19′27″W
 • elevation3,176 ft (968 m)
MouthGauley River[1]
 • location
Woodbine
 • coordinates
38°17′58″N 80°36′49″W
 • elevation
1,919 ft (585 m)
Length24 mi (39 km)[1]
Basin size74 sq mi (190 km2)[2]
Discharge 
 • locationnear Richwood[3]
 • average233.6 cu ft/s (6.61 m3/s) (USGS water years 1945-2019)
 • minimum126.2 cu ft/s (3.57 m3/s) (water year 1999)
 • maximum318 cu ft/s (9.0 m3/s) (water year 1979)
Discharge 
 • locationmouth[4]
 • average277.08 cu ft/s (7.846 m3/s) (estimate)
Cranberry River at the Woodbine Picnic Area after a heavy rain

The river has also been known historically as Cranberry Creek.[1] The river was named for cranberry bogs along its course.[6]

Geography

The Cranberry River is formed in southwestern Pocahontas County by the confluence of its North and South forks.[1] The South Fork, the longer of the two at a length of 9 miles (14 km),[7] rises on Cranberry Mountain just west of the Highland Scenic Highway before flowing through the Cranberry Glades Botanical Area. The North Fork rises about 2 miles (3.2 km) north on Black Mountain.

Below the confluence of its forks, the Cranberry flows for 24 miles (39 km) generally westward towards its mouth at the Gauley River near Craigsville.

Since the river flows mostly through United States Forest Service land, no more than a handful of people live along its banks; the few that do reside near the mouth of the river. However, the Cranberry River has several pay campgrounds, free campsites, and picnic areas along its banks.[8]

Fishing

Fish biomass production was reduced three fold and fish diversity was cut almost in half between 1957 and 1987 in the Cranberry River watershed. Although causality was never established, this was attributed to acidification from atmospheric deposition of nitric and sulfuric acid. Flow-driven liming stations were established on the Dogway Fork in 1988 and in 1993 on the North Fork just above its confluence with the South Fork of the Cranberry River. A fishable brook trout population and 13 macroinvertebrate species have been restored to the Dogway Fork since liming has begun. Smallmouth bass and rock bass have been reestablished in the treated part of the river and numbers have increased in the lower reaches.[9]

The Cranberry River and its small tributaries are regarded as some of the finest trout streams in the eastern United States. Until recently, however, trout fishing on the south fork was limited to the lower half of the river due to acid rain. The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources has worked to counter this problem by installing a liming station on the north fork of the river.[10]

Flow rate

At its mouth, the river's estimated mean annual flow rate is 277.08 cubic feet per second (7.846 m3/s).[4] A USGS stream gauge on the creek near Richwood recorded a mean annual discharge of 233.6 cu ft/s (6.61 m3/s) during water years 1945-2019. The highest annual mean discharge during the period was 318 cu ft/s (9.0 m3/s) in water year 1979, and the lowest was 126.2 cu ft/s (3.57 m3/s) in water year 1999. The highest daily mean discharge during that period was 6,770 cu ft/s (192 m3/s) on March 21, 1984, and the lowest was 0.16 cu ft/s (0.0045 m3/s) on August 21, 1987.[3]

See also

References
  1. "Cranberry River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  2. Grafton, Emily. 2006. "Cranberry River." The West Virginia Encyclopedia. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council. ISBN 0-9778498-0-5.
  3. "Water-Year Summary for Site 03187500". waterdata.usgs.gov. Archived from the original on 2020-09-05. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
  4. United States Environmental Protection Agency. "Watershed Report: Cranberry River". watersgeo.epa.gov. Archived from the original on 2020-09-05. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
  5. DeLorme (1997). West Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-246-3.
  6. Kenny, Hamill (1945). West Virginia Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning, Including the Nomenclature of the Streams and Mountains. Piedmont, WV: The Place Name Press. p. 189.
  7. "South Fork Cranberry River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  8. Big Rock Campground, Cranberry Campground, Cranberry River campsites, Woodbine Picnic Area, in the Monongahela National Forest
  9. multiple citations and communications of Raymond Menendez, et al. in Water-quality Assessment of the Kanawha-New River Basin, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina-Review of Water-Quality Literature through 1996 By Terrence Messinger USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 97-4075 National Water Quality Assessment Charleston, WV 1997 pp. 21-22
  10. Gasper, Donald C. New Native Brook Trout Streams, A New Wilderness (pdf)
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