page_title: Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana)
section_title: Tributaries and hydrology
hierarchical_section_title: Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana) / Tributaries and hydrology
caption_attribution_description: Pearl River backwater in Mississippi
context_page_description: The Pearl River is a river in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Louisiana. It forms in Neshoba County, Mississippi from the confluence of Nanih Waiya and Tallahaga creeks. and has a meander length of 444 miles. The lower part of the river forms part of the boundary between Mississippi and Louisiana. The river watershed contains large areas of bottomland hardwood swamp and cypress swamp, providing habitat for many species of wildlife, including sturgeon and black bears. As recently as 2008, endangered Ivory-billed woodpeckers were reportedly sighted here. The mouth of the river creates important marsh habitat along salinity gradients; these marshes have been the subject of many scientific studies. It is considered to be one of the most critical areas of natural habitat remaining in Louisiana.
  Mississippi‘s capital and largest city, Jackson, is located along the upper reaches of the river. Most of the towns along the river, starting with Philadelphia, Mississippi in the north, are within the boundaries of that state.
context_section_description: The Yockanookany and Strong rivers are tributaries on the upper section of the river north of Jackson: the Lobutcha, Tuscolameta, and Pelahatchie creeks also feed in as tributaries in this region. In 1924 the Tuscolameta Creek received a 24-mile channelization and Yockanookany River received a 36-mile canal, which was completed in 1928.
  Northeast of Jackson, the Ross Barnett Reservoir was formed by a 1962 dam. Average annual rainfall is about 52 inches in the upper third of the basin, and below Jackson the basin rainfall increases to 64 inches or more, contributing to the greater discharge of the Bogue Chitto as noted below.
  The Bogue Chitto River is a major tributary on the lower section. The Bogue Chitto's mean low-water discharge to the lower river is nearly six times that of the mean low-water discharge of the Pearl River at Jackson, Mississippi, according to a 1936 government report of the Mississippi Planning Commission. 
  West of Picayune, about 50 miles (80 km) above the mouth, the river forks.
  The East Pearl River empties into Lake Borgne, where the dredged Pearl River Channel meets the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.  The discharge flows eastward past Grand Island through St. Joe Pass and into the Mississippi Sound.  The West Pearl River flows into The Rigolets, thence into Lake Borgne. Both discharges eventually reach the Gulf of Mexico.  The Pearl River serves as the 115-mile (185 km) boundary between Mississippi and Louisiana in its lower reach near the Gulf of Mexico.
  Pearl River provides the receiving waters for the Savanna Street Sewage Treatment Plant in Jackson, Mississippi. which lies about 180 miles (290 km) from the mouth of the river.
caption: Pearl River backwater in Mississippi
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