Payette River

Payette River
South Fork Payette River
Payette River; South Fork Payette River
	The lower course of the Payette River
	Map of the Payette River watershed
Location
Country	United States
State	Idaho
Region	Payette County
City	Emmett
Physical characteristics
Source	North Fork Payette River
• location	Deep Lake, Boise County
• coordinates	45°10′47″N 115°59′37″W / 45.17972°N 115.99361°W
• elevation	7,380 ft (2,250 m)
2nd source	South Fork Payette River
• location	A small unnamed lake near Vernon Lake, Boise County
• coordinates	43°57′51″N 115°00′02″W / 43.96417°N 115.00056°W
• elevation	8,820 ft (2,690 m)
Source confluence	Near Banks
• location	Payette County
• coordinates	44°05′04″N 116°06′54″W / 44.08444°N 116.11500°W
• elevation	2,790 ft (850 m)
Mouth	Snake River
• location	Payette, Payette County
• coordinates	44°05′32″N 116°57′09″W / 44.09222°N 116.95250°W
• elevation	2,125 ft (648 m)
Length	83 mi (134 km), East-West
Basin size	3,240 sq mi (8,400 km2)
Discharge
• average	2,803 cu ft/s (79.4 m3/s)
• maximum	32,000 cu ft/s (910 m3/s)
Basin features
River system	Snake River
Tributaries
• left	South Fork Payette River
• right	North Fork Payette River, Big Willow Creek

The Payette River (/peɪˈɛt/) is an 82.7-mile-long (133.1 km)^[1] river in southwestern Idaho and is a major tributary of the Snake River.

Its headwaters originate in the Sawtooth and Salmon River Mountains at elevations over 10,000 feet (3,000 m). Drainage in the watershed flows primarily from east to west, with the cumulative stream length to the head of the North Fork Payette River being 180 miles (290 km),^[1] while to the head of the South Fork the cumulative length is nearly 163 miles (262 km).^[1] The combined Payette River flows into an agricultural valley and empties into the Snake River near the city of Payette at an elevation of 2,125 feet (648 m). The Payette River's drainage basin comprises about 3,240 square miles (8,400 km²).^[2] It is a physiographic section of the Columbia Plateau province, which in turn is part of the larger Intermontane Plateaus physiographic division. The South Fork of the Payette has its headwaters in the Sawtooth Wilderness, which is part of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.

^ ^a ^b ^c U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed May 3, 2011
^ "North Fork Payette River Subbasin Assessment" (PDF). Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2010.

[NHD-1] U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed May 3, 2011

[2] "North Fork Payette River Subbasin Assessment" (PDF). Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2010.

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