watercourse, southwestern Idaho, U.S., formed by the confluence of the North Fork Payette River and South Fork Payette River in Boise National Forest near the village of Banks. The North Fork originates in Payette Lake, a popular recreation site near McCall. The Payette flows south and then west past Emmett to join the Snake River near Payette on the Oregon border after a course of about 73 miles (117 km). Black Canyon Dam and Reservoir on the Payette and the Cascade Dam and Reservoir on the North Fork are part of the Payette division of the Boise Irrigation Project. The river drains an area of roughly 3,250 square miles (8,417 square km).