Grand River (South Dakota)

Water type: River
Continent: North America
Climate: Continental

The Grand River (Lakota: Čhaŋšúška Wakpá) is a tributary of the Missouri River in South Dakota in the United States. The length of the combined branch is 110 mi (177 km). With its longest fork, its length is approximately 200 mi (320 km).

According to the Geographic Names Information System, it has also been known historically as: Creek of the Rees, Marapa River, Palanat Palanata Wakpa Ree, Ree River, Riviere au Corn, We tar hoo River.

It is formed by the confluence of the North Fork (which rises in North Dakota) and the longer South Fork (which rises in South Dakota and passes through the town of Buffalo) in northwestern South Dakota near Shadehill in Perkins County, near several parcels of the Grand River National Grassland. Shadehill Reservoir is located at this confluence. It flows east, through the Standing Rock Indian Reservation and joins the Missouri in Lake Oahe, approximately 2 mi (3 km) northwest of Mobridge. The lower 15 mi (24 km) of the river form an arm of the Lake Oahe reservoir. It is the northernmost of South Dakota\\\’s major West River streams: the Grand, Moreau, Cheyenne, Bad, and White. Draining about 5,200 square miles (13,000 km2) of the northern plateaus of the state, the Grand receives most of its water from snowmelt. Water quality is high in sodium, and is therefore less appropriate for irrigation. At Wakpala, the river has a mean annual discharge of 275 cubic feet per second (8 m3/s).

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