Portage River (Ohio)

Portage River (Ohio)

Approximately 60 miles (100 km) in length, the Portage River and its tributaries, the Middle Branch and North Branch, meanders across Ottawa, Sandusky, and Wood counties in northwest Ohio before it empties into Lake Erie at Port Clinton. It most likely derives its name from early explorers who were forced to portage or carry their canoes and boats around the river's intermittent shallows and rapids.

Native Americans were the first to use the river for as a food source and transportation. In 1782, a trader wrote to a merchant in Detroit, "it is expected there will be two French traders at or near Little Island or the Portash River." In 1850 the Ohio legislature passed the first of several laws mandating the draining of the Great Black Swamp into the Portage and Maumee rivers. This led to the creation of many of the tributaries, streams, and ditches feeding the Portage River.

Drainage system changes have caused the Portage River to shift the location of its mouth at least twice in the past three hundred years. Maps recorded in 1754 show the mouth near the present location of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. Prior to that, the river emptied into Lake Erie near West Harbor.

Despite its shallow depth, the river is relatively clean, reaching 76-percent of Ohio EPA standards. Environmental concerns include nonpoint pollution sources, inappropriate land use, and sewage discharge. Due to PCB contamination, the Ohio EPA recommends no more than one meal per month of channel catfish and common carp caught in the Portage River.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Portage River (Ohio) — Portage River Gewässerkennzahl US: 1057935 Lage nordwestlicher Bundesstaat Ohio, USA Flusssystem …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Portage River — Portage River, der Name leitet sich von Portage (Kanu) ab, bezeichnet mehrere Flüsse in Kanada: Portage River (Churchill River, Neufundland und Labrador), ein Nebenfluss des Churchill River Portage River (Prince Edward Island), eine Bucht der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Portage River — Two rivers are called Portage River in the USA: *Portage River (St. Joseph County) *Portage River (Ohio) *Historically, the South Branch of the Chicago River was called the Portage River …   Wikipedia

  • Portage Lakes (Ohio) — Infobox lake lake name = Portage Lakes image lake = caption lake = image bathymetry = caption bathymetry = location = Summit County, Ohio coords = coord|41|0|23|N|81|31|26|W|region:US OH type:waterbody source:GNIS|display=inline,title type =… …   Wikipedia

  • Portage County (Ohio) — Das Portage County Courthouse in Ravenna Verwaltung US Bundesstaat: Ohio …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Franklin Township, Portage County, Ohio — Infobox Settlement official name = Franklin Township, Portage County, Ohio settlement type = Township nickname = motto = imagesize = 250px image caption = Franklin Township Hall, built in 1837. image mapsize = 250px map caption = Location within… …   Wikipedia

  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Portage County, Ohio — Location of Portage County in Ohio This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Portage County, Ohio. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in… …   Wikipedia

  • Portage (disambiguation) — Portage may refer to one of the following.*Portage, the practice of carrying a canoe or other boat over land to avoid an obstacle on the water route *Portage (software), the package management system for Gentoo Linux *Portage, a home visiting… …   Wikipedia

  • Ohio locations by per capita income — Ohio is the twenty second wealthiest state in the United States of America, with a per capita income of $21,003 (2000).[1] Ohio locations ranked by per capita income Rank Place County Per Capita Income Median House hold Income Population Number… …   Wikipedia

  • Ohio State Route 43 — State Route 43 Route information Maintained by ODOT Length: 122.69 mi[1 …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”