Klickitat River Delta

The Klickitat River discharges into the Columbia River just west of Lyle, Washington. The delta formed by the Kickitat is a busy place.   

The narrowing on the river at the delta attracts fishermen whenever fish are running. The high turbidity of the Klickitat is due to its glacial origin off of the east flank of Mount Adams, a 12,000-foot strato volcano. In the later summer the water in the river is dominated by glacial melt water. 

The delta also provides an excellent launching area for wind surfers.      

The Columbia Gorge is a windy place as it provides a gap between through the Cascade Range. During warm summer weather the heating on the east side of the mountains creates a strong pressure gradient through the gorge and weather systems coming in from Pacific also create strong pressure gradients through the gorge.

But note, the lack of wind mills. This section of the gorge is within a designated national scenic area and hence wind energy development is precluded in this area. Large wind farms are located to the east outside of the scenic area.