Observations of currents, hydrography, and turbulence provide unambiguous evidence for hydraulic control of flow over an isolated three-dimensional topographic feature on Oregon's continental shelf. The flow becomes critical at the crest of the bank, forming a strong supercritical downslope flow in the lower layer. Farther downstream, internal hydraulic jumps form as the bottom flow becomes subcritical. As a consequence, turbulence is greatly enhanced in the bottom boundary layer, in the sheared interface above the swiftly flowing bottom current, and in the internal hydraulic jump. The dissipation rate of turbulent energy is consistent with the mean energy removal rate for a hydraulic jump in an idealized two-layer flow. This enhanced turbulence constitutes a high drag state of the flow in which the form drag introduced by the topography exerts significant influence on the flow around it and mixing is increased 102-103 times the background values. ¿ 2001 American Geophysical Union