Cheat River

Map of the catchment area of the Monongahela River with the Cheat River

The Cheat River at Rowlesburg, West Virginia

The Cheat River is a 125 km long right tributary of the Monongahela River in eastern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. It is a result of the Monongahela and Ohio rivers part of the watershed of the Mississippi River and drains an area of 3684 km ².

Geography

The Cheat River arises in Parsons at the confluence of Shavers Fork and Black Fork; the Black Fork is fed by the Blackwater River, the Dry Fork, Glady Fork to, and the Laurel Fork. These are all considered primary arms of the Cheat River. From Parsons from the river generally flows northward through the county Tucker and Preston counties and the cities have happened Rowlesburg and Albright. From Albright to the river flows to the north- east and gathers the waters of the Big Sandy Creek before it reaches the Monongalia County, with the dam of a hydroelectric plant south of the border expands the flow to the Cheat Lake to Pennsylvania. It then flows for a short distance to the southwest of Fayette County before it flows into the Monongahela River in Point Marion. Above the dam the Cheat River one of the largest rivers in the eastern United States is without dams.

The United States Geological Survey operates two level measuring stations on the Cheat River. The average annual runoff of the Cheat River is in Rowlesburg 110 m³ / s, in Parsons, near its origin, it is 105 m³ / s

A few miles west of the confluence in Parsons located the northern end of the Cheat Mountains, a 80 km long mountain range that runs to the south.

Flood of 1985

In November 1985 heavy rains caused a flood on Cheat River, which most of the small town of Albright was washed away literally. The river discharge at the time was estimated to be around 5400 m³ / s (compared to 30 to 140 m³ / s). In this severe flooding, the city was flooded Rowlesburg where the school was destroyed. This then led to the establishment of a high school for the entire County.

Pollution

In the vicinity of Albright, the river is affected by mine water. Although the stones in the river below Although russet and only a small population of fish in the river is present, the water quality has improved slowly since the 1990s.

Historical names

According to the Geographic Names Information System of the Cheat River also had the following names:

• Ah -sin -ha - nac
• Achsinhanac
• Cheal River
• Chealt River
• Eleatic River
• Wilmoths River