The Wikipedia definition of the Columbia Basin includes 2 definitions The
first is all the Columbia River watershed and the second is a definition
that includes the area around the Tri-cities.

see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Basin

It also refers to the "dry flat region at the centre of the Columbia Basin"
as the Columbia River Plateau. Probably geologists have another different
defintion for the Columbia Plateau which includes the Palouse.

There is no definition for Lower Columbia Basin.

Wikipedia also defines a river basin to be essentially equivalent to a
watershed see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_basin

thanks, Charles.



On 7/27/06, Wayne C. Weber <contopus at telus.net> wrote:
>
> Charles and Tweeters,
>
> Perhaps you should ask the Lower Columbia Basin Audubon Society,
> based in the Tri-cities, what area they consider to be their turf.
> That would be one answer to your question.
>
> I agree that "Lower Columbia Basin" is a term that does not have any
> generally-accepted geographic meaning (and therefore, should
> probably be avoided). However, in my experience, "Columbia Basin"
> does have a generally-accepted meaning. Within Washington, at least, it
> means the relatively flat or low-altitude (mainly less than 3000 feet)
> areas of the Columbia watershed, east of the Cascades, and excluding
> the Blue Mountains, Okanogan Highlands, and mountains of NE
> Washington. It does NOT mean the entire watershed of the Columbia
> River. For example, no one ever uses this term to refer to any part of
> B.C., even though a huge area of B.C. lies within the Columbia
> watershed.
>
> Any comments from the geographers within the group? I am sure
> there are maps that have been published somewhere that show the
> boundaries of the "Columbia Basin" as a physiographic unit.
>
> Wayne C. Weber
> Delta, BC
> contopus at telus.net
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Charles Swift" <chaetura at gmail.com>
> To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 4:02 PM
> Subject: [Tweeters] what is the "Lower Columbia Basin" ??
>
>
> Howdy -
>
> Mike Denny pointed out an error in North American Birds (NAB) regarding
> the
> status of Black-capped Chickadee in the Lower Columbia Basin. My question
> is, what is the Lower Columbia Basin? I have seen it used in a variety
> of ways that leads me to suspect the term does not have a standard
> definition among birders.
>
> The sighting referred to in the NAB report was in Washtucna
> (Adams County) - is this part of the Lower Columbia Basin as the term is
> commonly used??
>
> [Technically speaking the Columbia Basin includes the whole watershed
> which
> is huge and the Lower Columbia Basin would include the watershed of a
> certain portion of the Columbia which is also probably huge, extending
> into
> Idaho, Oregon, etc. The term as it is commonly used probably applies to
> areas within a certain distance of the Columbia River near the tri-cities,
> one description I found suggested Dayton, WA to Yakima, WA.]
>
> I suspect BC Chickadee are actually pretty unusual at Washtucna
> (probably Mountain Chickadee is more likely at this location than
> Black-capped). They are resident in parts of eastern Whitman County and
> as Mike pointed out along the Snake River and elsewhere along
> the Columbia R.
>
> An eBird generated distribution of BC Chickadee in WA can be see here:
> http://tinyurl.com/gp84w
>
> --
> Charles Swift
> Moscow, ID
> chaetura at gmail.com
>
>
>
>
>


--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura at gmail.com
http://www.uidaho.edu/~charless