Rutherford Creek

Rutherford Creek is a tributary of the Green River, British Columbia, Canada, entering that river a few miles above Nairn Falls Provincial Park, near the village of Pemberton. The creek's headwaters are on the eastern side of the Pemberton Icefield. from where it flows southeast for the first half of its course, then generally east for the remainder. It is approximately 24km in length.

Rutherford Creek is the location of one of only two artificial whitewater kayaking courses in Canada, the other being located in Ottawa. The course was built as a part of a 50 megawatt run-of-the-river hydroelectric facility built by the private Rutherford Creek Power Ltd. in cooperation with the Mount Currie First Nation, the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, the BC Whitewater Kayaking Association and the Pemberton Snowmobile Club.

2003 washout/flooding

Rutherford Creek became the focus of disaster relief when a Pineapple Express bearing more rain than has ever been recorded before reached the area, and was made worse because the freezing line was well above the elevation of the Pemberton Icecap, which began to melt in torrential fashion. Rutherford Creek is one of the main streams leading from that icecap and the torrent which came down it wiped out the bridges used to cross it by BC Highway 99 and the BC Rail line.

References

• BCGNIS listing "Rutherford Creek"
• Rutherford Creek whitewater kayaking page, CoastalBC.com
• BC Hydro information page on Rutherford Creek power project