Niobrara River
Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Infobox river
The Niobrara River (Template:IPAc-en; Template:Langx, Template:IPA, literally "water spread-out horizontal-the" or "The Wide-Spreading Water") is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately Template:Convert long,<ref name=NHD>U.S. Geological Survey. Many early settlers, such as Mari Sandoz, referred to the river as Running Water. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed March 30, 2011</ref> running through the U.S. states of Wyoming and Nebraska.<ref name=nps-nature>"Nature & Science". National Park Service: Niobrara National Scenic River. Retrieved 2011-03-10.</ref> The river drains one of the most arid sections of the Great Plains, and has a low flow for a river of its length. The Niobrara's watershed includes the northern tier of Nebraska Sandhills, a small south-central section of South Dakota, as well as a small area of eastern Wyoming.
Course
The river rises in the High Plains of Wyoming, in southern Niobrara County. The Niobrara flows east as an intermittent stream past Lusk and southeast into northwestern Nebraska. It then flows southeast across the Pine Ridge country of Sioux County, then east through Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, past Marsland, and through Box Butte Reservoir. The stream flows east across northern Nebraska, near the northern edge of the Sandhills and past Valentine. It is joined by the Snake River about Template:Convert southwest of Valentine. In north-central Nebraska it is joined by the Keya Paha River approximately Template:Convert west of Butte. The river joins the Missouri northwest of Niobrara in northern Knox County, just upstream of Lewis and Clark Lake. Its total drainage basin is about Template:Convert.
Discharge
Although the annual runoff is low relative to the size of its drainage basin, the Niobrara has a stronger and more consistent flow than many other streams in the region. An estimated 70 percent of the river's water results from seepage from the Ogallala Aquifer that underlies the area, with the remaining 30 percent from precipitation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The river is highest in the spring and early summer (February through April) and lowest in early fall (August and September).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By late fall, river levels begin to rise as demands for river water for irrigation subside.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Niobrara's average discharge between 1958 and 2013, measured at the U.S. Geological Survey stream gage at Verdel, Nebraska, Template:Convert above the mouth, is Template:Convert. The highest flow recorded was Template:Convert on March 27, 1960. The lowest daily mean was Template:Convert on November 13, 1960.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
The lower Niobrara valley is the traditional home of the Ponca tribe of Native Americans. Between 1861 and 1882, the stretch of the Niobrara River from the mouth of the Keya Paha to its confluence with the Missouri marked the boundary between Nebraska and the Dakota Territory.
National Scenic River
Template:See also A Template:Convert stretch of the Niobrara River in central Nebraska, from the town of Valentine east to Nebraska State Highway 137, has been designated as the Niobrara National Scenic River since 1991. It is managed by the Department of the Interior (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and National Park Service) to protect the water quality, geologic, paleontologic, fish and wildlife, scenic and recreation values.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Most of the lands within the boundary of the National Scenic River are, and will remain, in private ownership. Management is based upon working with private, county, state and federal landowners and stakeholders to coordinate protection of the river while ensuring a quality experience for river visitors. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages the 9 miles of river that flow through the Fort Niobrara Refuge primarily for wilderness and wildlife habitat, but allows recreation downstream from Cornell Dam. The National Park Service manages the remaining 67 miles, acting as a facilitator for resource protection by landowners and river users, providing law enforcement and visitor education services, and coordinating resource management activities.Template:Citation needed
River modifications
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The Box Butte Dam, completed in 1946 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), is the only major dam on the Niobrara River proper. Located in Dawes County in western Nebraska, the dam is part of the Mirage Flats Project, which irrigates Template:Convert on the north side of the Niobrara River. Dunlap Diversion Dam, Template:Convert below Box Butte, diverts water through a Template:Convert canal to the farmland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Snake River tributary is impounded by the Merritt Dam and irrigates about Template:Convert in the area of Valentine, Nebraska. The project is part of the Ainsworth Unit of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, also operated by the USBR.<ref>http://www.usbr.gov/projects/Project.jsp?proj_Name=Ainsworth+Unit Template:Dead link</ref>
Cornell Dam, built in 1915 at the confluence of Minnechaduza Creek near Valentine, generated power until 1985. The following year the dam was acquired by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Although officially decommissioned, the dam remains standing.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The feasibility of removing the defunct dam has been studied, although the accumulation of sediment behind the dam, which may include high levels of chemicals from pesticides, may be harmful to the river environment if released.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Spencer Dam, about Template:Convert from the mouth of the Niobrara, was the last operational hydroelectric plant on the river. The dam was built in 1927 and was operated by the Nebraska Public Power District. It includes two Westinghouse generators, with a combined capacity of 3,000 kW.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In a 2015 agreement with Nebraska local and state government entities, NPPD agreed to decommission the dam in 2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The dam was breached by flooding caused by a March 2019 storm.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Native American languages
In the Cheyenne language, the river is Template:Lang, meaning "surprise river";Template:Citation needed in Pawnee, Template:Lang;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and in Lakota, Template:Lang, meaning "great river".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
See also
- Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
- Box Butte Reservoir
- Fort Niobrara, a U.S. Army outpost (1880–1906)
- Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge
- Niobrara National Scenic River
- Niobrara State Park, located at the confluence of the Niobrara and Missouri Rivers
- Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest
- Smith Falls
- List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem)
- List of Nebraska rivers
- List of Wyoming rivers
References
External links
- Niobrara National Scenic River - U.S. National Park Service
- Niobrara State Park - Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
- Smith Falls State Park - Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
- Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge - U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
- Agate Fossil Beds National Monument - U.S. National Park Service
Template:Protected Areas of Nebraska Template:Protected Areas of Wyoming Template:Missouri River Template:US state navigation box Template:US state navigation box
- Pages with broken file links
- Rivers of Nebraska
- Rivers of Wyoming
- Tributaries of the Missouri River
- Rivers of Sioux County, Nebraska
- Rivers of Dawes County, Nebraska
- Rivers of Boyd County, Nebraska
- Rivers of Cherry County, Nebraska
- Rivers of Knox County, Nebraska
- Rivers of Keya Paha County, Nebraska
- Rivers of Brown County, Nebraska
- Rivers of Rock County, Nebraska
- Rivers of Sheridan County, Nebraska
- Rivers of Holt County, Nebraska
- National Park Service Wild and Scenic Rivers
- Federal lands in Nebraska
- National Park Service areas in Nebraska
- Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States