what type of estuary is the columbia river
bay
title: Columbia River text: Columbia River The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. It flows northwest and then south into the US state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state of Oregon before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. The river is long, and its largest tributary is the Snake River. Its drainage basin is roughly the size of France and extends into seven US states and a Canadian province. The fourth-largest river in the United States title: Columbia River text: known as the Grand Coulee. After the floods, the river found its present course, and the Grand Coulee was left dry. The construction of the Grand Coulee Dam in the mid-20th century impounded the river, forming Lake Roosevelt, from which water was pumped into the dry coulee, forming the reservoir of Banks Lake. The river flows past The Gorge Amphitheatre, a prominent concert venue in the Northwest, then through Priest Rapids Dam, and then through the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Entirely within the reservation is Hanford Reach, the only US stretch of the river that is completely free-flowing, unimpeded by dams title: Columbia River text: Washington and the Cowlitz River confluence, the river turns west again. The Columbia empties into the Pacific Ocean just west of Astoria, Oregon, over the Columbia Bar, a shifting sandbar that makes the river's mouth one of the most hazardous stretches of water to navigate in the world. Because of the danger and the many shipwrecks near the mouth, it acquired a reputation as the "Graveyard of Ships". The Columbia drains an area of about . Its drainage basin covers nearly all of Idaho, large portions of British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington, ultimately all of Montana west of the Continental title: Columbia River Estuary text: mouth of the Columbia River. Settlements on the estuary include Astoria and Warrenton in Oregon, and Ilwaco in Washington. The gathering and retail/wholesale distribution of seafood is a prominent local industry and producer of jobs in the estuary. Columbia River Estuary The Columbia River Estuary is an estuary and a bay on the Oregon–Washington border and the Pacific Coast of the United States. If the Columbia River Estuary is defined by the region that experiences ocean tides, then the estuary extends up the Columbia River to Bonneville Dam and up the Willamette River to Willamette Falls (south of Portland at title: Nutrient cycling in the Columbia River Basin text: River estuary exports high rates of nutrients into the Pacific Ocean; with the exception of nitrogen, which is delivered into the estuary by ocean upwelling sources. The Columbia River basin is a major watershed and the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Extending from southern British Columbia to northern Nevada, the watershed includes seven American states and two Canadian provinces and drains an area of about 260,000 square miles. The Columbia River stretches 1,620 miles in length until its discharge into the Pacific Ocean near Astoria, Oregon. The average annual discharge rate of the Columbia River