- elevation 3,490 ft (1,064 m) Length 301 km Mouth Clinch River Country United States of America | - elevation 1,020 ft (311 m) Basin area 2,471 km² Source Wise County, Virginia | |
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- average 1,157 cu ft/s (33 m/s) (mean for water years 1919-1979) - max 59,500 cu ft/s (1,685 m/s)
April 1977 - min 47 cu ft/s (1.3 m/s)
January 1940 | ||
The Powell River in the United States rises in southwest Virginia and flows into East Tennessee.
Map of Powell River, United States
The river rises in rural Wise County, Virginia near the Laurel Grove community northwest of Norton and flows for several miles before the confluence with Roaring Fork in the Kent Junction community. From Kent Junction the river flows 187 miles (301 km) and drains approximately 954 square miles (2,471 km2) in both Virginia and Tennessee before reaching its confluence with the Clinch River in the Norris Lake reservoir at the site of the now-submerged town of Grantsboro.
Powell River was named for a man called Powell who apparently carved his name into many of the trees of the area while accompanying the exploration party of Dr. Thomas Walker in the mid-18th century. His name appeared so frequently on trees in the valley of this river that later explorers and early pioneers came to call the stream "Powell's River" and the valley "Powell's Valley".
The Powell River was designated by the EPA as the “second most biologically diverse aquatic system in the nation.” The Powell is under pressure from the effects of mining (including strip mining), logging and associated road-building.
Lincoln Memorial University operates the Powell River Aquatic Research Station, which is located where Tennessee State Route 63 crosses the river at the Brooks Bridge in Claiborne County, Tennessee. The center, which opened in April 2008, allows for on-site research of water quality, flora, fauna and related habitat.