Green River (Duwamish River tributary)

History

In October 2009, giant sandbags were placed along the levee from Fort Dent through Kent and the Green River Trail was closed to cyclists. The sandbags mitigated the flood potential due to a weakness discovered in the Howard A. Hanson Dam following a January 2009 storm. Repairs strengthening the partially earthen dam by the Army Corps of Engineers have reduced this flood threat significantly. In September 2012, the Green River Trail was reopened following the removal of all giant sandbags.

Course

Most of the river above and including Eagle Gorge Reservoir are part of the Green River Watershed, which is closed to public access, creating controversy among recreation proponents for some time. West of the Green River Watershed at Kanaskat, the river passes through the Green River Gorge with cliffs rising sharply as much as 300 ft from the riverbed. Flaming Geyser State Park, Nolte State Park, and Kanaskat-Palmer State Park are located in this area. The river is a popular tubing spot in the Summer.

Downstream from the Green River Gorge is the half-mile wide Green River Valley, where farmland has been protected from development. An attempt to locate a bike trail along the valley walls has encountered fierce resistance from farmers. As a result, bikes must share the road with autos as it winds through the pastoral landscape.

At Auburn, the Green River emerges from the Green River Valley and enters the much larger Auburn/Kent Valley, which was created by glacial action during the Pleistocene ice ages, then filled in by river sediments and lahars from Mount Rainier. After flowing generally west from its source, at Auburn the river turns north, entering a zone of light-industrial and retail development. A public multiuse trail runs along the river through most of this valley. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060718081823/http://www.metrokc.gov/parks/trails/greenriver.html|archive-date=2006-07-18}}

Tributaries

• Big Soos Creek
• Covington Creek
• Crisp Creek
• Jenkins Creek
• Little Soos Creek
• Longfellow Creek
• Mill Creek
• Newaukum Creek
• Springbrook Creek

Green River Killer

Main article: Green River Killer

The Green River is infamous as the location where the first victims of serial killer Gary Ridgway were found in the early 1980s. Most of these victims were sex workers that worked an active "stroll" along Pacific Highway South. Although only a few bodies were found in the river, the unidentified killer was known as the "Green River Killer". These murders went unsolved for over 20 years. For many years, Dave Reichert led the investigation as a detective of the King County Sheriff's Office. Ridgway made a plea agreement with King County Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng to cooperate with police in order to escape execution. In November 2003, Gary Ridgway pleaded guilty to 48 counts of Aggravated First Degree Murder. King County Superior Court Judge Richard A. Jones sentenced Ridgway to 48 consecutive life sentences. Ridgway will never be eligible for parole.

References

• Guillen, Tomas (2007). "Serial Killers: Issues Explored Through the Green River Murders", Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 2007.

References

1. [[United States Geological Survey. USGS]]; {{Gnis. 1520326. Green River; retrieved April 20, 2007.
2. [[Google Earth]] elevation for Green River source coordinates. Retrieved April 20, 2007.
3. [[Google Earth]] elevation for Green River mouth coordinates. Retrieved April 20, 2007.
4. [[United States Geological Survey. USGS]]; [https://pubs.usgs.gov/wdr/2005/wdr-wa-05-1 Water Data Report WA-05-1], file: [https://pubs.usgs.gov/wdr/2005/wdr-wa-05-1/pdf/wa00103ADR2005_Figure30.pdf Duwamish River Basin]; retrieved April 20, 2007.
5. "The Green-Duwamish: A River System Re-Plumbed", ''The Green-Duwamish River: Connecting people with a diverse environment''. Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition/TAG. No date, appears to be 2008 or 2009.
6. (October 6, 2009). "Green River Trail in Kent to close – making way for giant sandbags". Kent Reporter.
7. (September 24, 2012). "All sandbags removed in Kent along Green River Trail". Kent Reporter.
8. "Home of the Green River Killer Information Pages".
9. Guillen, 2007.
10. "Green River Killings". Seattle Times.
11. "Aggravated First Degree Murder: RCW 10.95.020".
12. "Sentence for Aggravated First Degree Murder: RCW 10.95.030".