Oswego River
The Oswego River as it passes through the city of Oswego.
The Oswego drainage basin, with the Oswego River highlighted
Location
Country	United States
State	New York
Counties	Onondaga, Oswego
City	Oswego
Physical characteristics
Source	Seneca River
• location	Geneva
• coordinates	42°52′05″N 76°56′27″W / 42.86806°N 76.94083°W / 42.86806; -76.94083[1]
• elevation	443 ft (135 m)[2]
2nd source	Oneida River
• location	Brewerton
• coordinates	43°14′24″N 76°08′26″W / 43.24000°N 76.14056°W / 43.24000; -76.14056[3]
Source confluence
• location	Northwest of Syracuse
• coordinates	43°12′5″N 76°16′50″W / 43.20139°N 76.28056°W / 43.20139; -76.28056[4]
• elevation	357 ft (109 m)[4]
Mouth	Lake Ontario
• location	Oswego
• coordinates	43°27′54″N 76°30′50″W / 43.46500°N 76.51389°W / 43.46500; -76.51389[4]
• elevation	245 ft (75 m)[5]
Basin size	5,122 sq mi (13,270 km2)
Discharge
• location	Oswego[6]
• average	6,912 cu ft/s (195.7 m3/s)[6]
• minimum	261 cu ft/s (7.4 m3/s)(September 18, 1985)[6]
• maximum	37,000 cu ft/s (1,000 m3/s)(March 28, 1936)[6]

The Oswego River (/ɒsˈwiːɡoʊ/) is a river in upstate New York in the United States. It is the second-largest river (after the Niagara River) flowing into Lake Ontario. James Fenimore Cooper’s novel The Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea is set in the Oswego River valley.^[7]

The name Oswego is a Mohawk name that means "flowing out", or specifically, "small water flowing into that which is large".^[8]

Description

James Fenimore Cooper described the Oswego in these words:

The Oswego is formed by the junction of the Oneida and the Onondaga,^{[note 1]} both of which flow from lakes; and it pursues its way, through a gently undulating country, some eight or ten miles, until it reaches the margin of a sort of natural terrace, down which it tumbles some ten or fifteen feet, to another level, across which it glides with the silent, stealthy progress of deep water, until it throws its tribute into the broad receptacle of the Ontario.^[9]

River course

The Oswego River starts at the confluence of the Oneida River (flowing from Oneida Lake) and the Seneca River (flowing from Seneca Lake, Cayuga Lake, and Montezuma Marsh). The river drains an area of 5,122 square miles (13,266 km²), as large as the states of Rhode Island and Delaware together, comprising most of the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York.

At its mouth at Lake Ontario, the river divides the City of Oswego, just as it divides the City of Fulton 11 miles upstream.

Oswego Canal

Part of its length the Oswego Canal was built. The Oswego River also serves as a part of the New York State Canal System, providing a route from the Erie Canal to Lake Ontario. This section of the canal was completed in 1827, two years after completion of the Erie Canal. In 1917, as part of a general overhaul of the canal system, the Oswego Canal was deepened and refurbished. The canal is now 14 feet (4.3 m) deep and has an overhead clearance of 20 feet (6.1 m).

Pollution

The Oswego River was listed as a Great Lakes Areas of Concern in The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the United States and Canada until it was formally removed on July 21, 2006.^[10]

Sportfishing

The river is known for its steelhead run in the early spring, followed by a salmon run in early autumn. The river is stocked annually by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation with 140,000 Chinook salmon and 20,000 steelhead.^[11]