Skookumchuck River

Skookumchuck River
300px Skookumchuck River in Bucoda, WA
Country	United States
State	Washington
County	Lewis, Thurston
Source
- coordinates
Mouth
- coordinates
Length	45 mi (72 km)
Basin	181 sq mi (469 km2)
Discharge	for river mile 6.4 near Bucoda
- average	1,972 cu ft/s (55.8 m3/s)
- max	8,560 cu ft/s (242.4 m3/s)
- min	40 cu ft/s (1.1 m3/s)
Location of the mouth of the Skookumchuck River in Washington

The Skookumchuck River is a 45-mile (72 km) long river located in southwest Washington, USA. It is a tributary of the Chehalis River and thence to the Pacific Ocean. The Skookumchuck Dam was built in 1970, creating the Skookumchuck Reservoir. The dam provides water supply for the 1400-megawatt Centralia Steam Electric Plant and supplements flows for fish resources. The river begins with several tributaries in the Snoqualmie National Forest in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, and flows west past the town of Bucoda, Washington to its confluence with the Chehalis River near Centralia, Washington.

The name of the river derives from Chinook Jargon: In this context, "rapids". The word skookum means "strong", and chuck means "water".

See also

• List of Washington rivers
• List of Chinook Jargon placenames

External links

• Thurston County - river data