Kentucky River

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Kentucky River
The Kentucky River Palisades at Raven Run Park
Kentucky River watershed (Interactive map)
Location
Country	United States
State	Kentucky
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Beattyville
• elevation	669 ft (204 m)
Mouth
• location	Ohio River at Carrollton
Length	263 mi (423 km)
Basin size	6,989 sq mi (18,100 km2)
Discharge
• location	Lockport
• average	8,924 cu ft/s (252.7 m3/s), USGS water years 1977-2019[1]

The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River in Kentucky, United States. The 260-mile (420 km) river and its tributaries drain much of eastern and central Kentucky, passing through the Eastern Coalfield, the Cumberland Mountains, and the Bluegrass region.^[2] Its watershed encompasses about 7,000 square miles (18,000 km²), and it supplies drinking water to about one-sixth of the population of the state.

The river is no longer navigable above Lock 4 at Frankfort, as concrete bulkheads have been poured behind the upper lock gates of Locks 5–14 to strengthen the dam structures. All fourteen dams are managed by the state-run Kentucky River Authority. The primary importance of the locks today is to maintain a pool that allows the city of Lexington to draw its drinking water from the river. Although the Lexington area receives well over 40 inches (1,000 mm) of precipitation annually, the limestone karst geology of the area allows little natural surface water.

The cities of Winchester, Beattyville, Irvine, Richmond, Lancaster, Nicholasville, Harrodsburg, Wilmore, Versailles, Lawrenceburg, and Frankfort also draw water from the river for their municipal water supplies. It is estimated^{[by whom?]} that more than 700,000 people depend on the river for water.