Platte River

Platte
Map of the Platte River, also showing the South and North Platte River watersheds Map of the Platte River, also showing the South and North Platte River watersheds
Origin	Western Nebraska
Mouth	Missouri River, Nebraska
Basin countries	United States
Length	310 miles (499 km)
Source elevation	2,770 feet (844 m) at North Platte, Nebraska

The Platte River is an approximately 310 mi. (499 km) long river in the Western United States. It is a tributary to the Missouri River, which in turn is a tributary to the Mississippi River. Platte River being one of the most significant river systems in the watershed of the Missouri, it drains a large portion of the central Great Plains in Nebraska and the eastern Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Wyoming. The river was highly significant in the westward expansion of the United States, providing the route for several major westward trails, including the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Trail. In the 18th century, it was also known among French fur trappers who explored it as the Nebraska River.

The Platte River is a braided stream that spans from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming to the Missouri River. It then pours into the Missouri River which leads into the Mississippi River and then into the Gulf of Mexico.

Description

Platte River valley west of Omaha, Nebraska

The Platte River is formed in western Nebraska east of the city of North Platte by the confluence of its two affluents, the South Platte and the North Platte rivers, both of which rise in the eastern Rockies near the Continental Divide. It flows in a large arc, southeast then northeast, across Nebraska south of the Sandhills region, passing the towns of Gothenburg, Cozad, Kearney, and Grand Island. It is joined by the Loup River 5 miles (8.0 km) southeast of Columbus and flows east past North Bend then to Fremont, then south, passing south of Omaha and joining the Missouri River 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Plattsmouth. Combined with the length of the North Platte, the Platte stretches 990 miles (1,593 km), with a drainage basin of some 90,000 square miles (233,099 km²).

The Platte River has three main stretches from the Rocky Mountains to North Platte, Nebraska from there to Columbus, Nebraska and the onto the Missouri River. It starts from ice melt in the mountains and then follows down to the plains of Nebraska where it is used to irrigate farmland. The Platte is stabilized by reservoir storage of flood water and return flow by ground storage and many small tributaries along the entire length of the river.

The Platte River is connected to many numbers of tributaries such as the North and South Platte Rivers which originate in the Rocky Mountains. From there it loses water on its way to the Missouri River - if it weren’t for its main tributaries, the Loup and Elkhorn Rivers, as well as the Salt Creek, the Platte River would run dry due to evaporation and irrigation.

A Great Blue Heron and immature Bald Eagle on the Platte River in Nebraska

The Platte drains one of the most arid areas of the Great Plains and thus its flow is considerably lower than rivers of comparable length in North America. For much of its length, it is a classic wide and shallow braided stream. During pioneer days, the common humorous description was that the Platte was "a mile wide at the mouth, but only six inches deep." 49ers said it was "too thick to drink, too thin to plow." In western Nebraska, the banks and riverbed of the Platte provide a green oasis amid an otherwise semi-arid region of North America. The central Platte River valley is an important stopover for migratory water birds, such as the Whooping Crane and Sandhill Crane, in their yearly traversal of the Central Flyway.

The Platte River has shrunk significantly since the early-mid twentieth century. This reduction in size is attributed in part to irrigation, and to a much greater extent to the waters diverted and used by the growing population of Colorado, which has outstripped the ability of its groundwater to sustain them. More than a dozen dams regulate water flow along its path, decreasing its width.

History

The first European to discover the Platte was the French explorer Étienne de Veniard, sieur de Bourgmont in 1714, who named it the Nebraskier, an Oto word meaning "flat water." The French word for flat, platte, was later applied. The river provided valuable transportation for the French trade in furs with the Pawnee and Oto Indians.

The Platte lay in a gray area between Spanish and French claims in the Great Plains. Joseph Naranjo, a black explorer, had also encountered the Platte, and later guided the Villasur expedition there to stop French expansion. Theirs was the deepest penetration of Spanish exploration into the central plains.

Ceded to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase, the Platte was explored and mapped by Major Stephen H. Long in 1820. The Platte was used by American trappers, and the Great Platte River Road played an important role in westward expansion during the 19th century. It provided fresh water, game, and a clear path westward for the pioneers. Both the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Trail followed the Platte (and the North Platte). In the 1860s, the Platte and North Platte furnished the route of Pony Express and later for the Union Pacific portion of the first transcontinental railroad. In the 20th century, its valley was used for the route of the Lincoln Highway and later for Interstate 80, which parallels the Platte and the North Platte through most of Nebraska.

This is also why many or most of Nebraska’s larger cities are located on or near the Platte River such as Omaha, Lincoln, Kearney, Grand Island, and North Platte. There were also historical sites along the Platte River such as Fort Kearny and other fur trading posts mostly due to the ease and abundance of traveling along the Platte River.

In 1859 the first irrigation ditch was built to divert water from the Platte in order to be used in farming. Many reservoirs have been created along the Platte River used to supply water for farming irrigation such as Swanson Reservoir, Lake McConaughy, and Plum Creek Reservoir.

Wildlife

Sandhill Cranes on the Platte River. Sandhill cranes breed in the Northern U.S., Canada, Alaska, and Siberia. Each winter they undertake long southern journeys to wintering grounds in Florida, Texas, Utah, Mexico, and California. En route, more than 80 percent of these birds use migratory staging areas in a single 75-mile stretch along Nebraska's Platte River. Each spring several hundred thousand of these birds spend four to six weeks in the Platte Valley before returning north to their nesting grounds.

Nebraska is home to an incredible diversity of native wildlife species, including 346 birds, 83 mammals, 87 fish, 47 reptiles and 13 amphibians. Many of these live along the Platte River, its valley and basin.

The Platte River is in the middle of the Central Flyway, a primary North-South Corridor for migratory birds. Millions of waterfowl pass through the region on their annual migration. Four of these have been classified as threatened or endangered species: the whooping crane, piping plover, interior least tern, and pallid sturgeon. Over 300 bird species have been observed along the Platte River, and over 140 species are known to nest along the river.

Conservation measures

The Platte River is considered to be one of the most endangered waterways in the United States, with concern building for years over the fate of its wildlife. Urbanization and farming have greatly depleted the ecosystem.

In 1997 the "Platte River Cooperative Agreement" was signed. This began the development of a joint recoverey program participated in by the states of Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming, along with the U.S. Department of the Interior. The program's Governance Committee includes representatives from each state, the Bureau of Reclamation and Fish & Wildlife Service, the Nebraska Wildlife Federation, conservation organizations, and water users.

The Program is designed to: protect 10,000 acres along the Central Platte River; increase river flows at times when it would benefit wildlife (spring and summer); develop a water depletion plans to ensure that new water uses would do no further harm to river flows that are critical for the four endangered species; and provide protection under the Endangered Species Act for any project in the Platte Basin that requires a federal permit or license and would impact Platte River flows.

This program is focused upon the Central Platte and would have only minor impacts on Colorado wildlife, uncluding the formation of new wetland areas. While the organization was formed based upon the concern of the endangered species, it would also benefit other cranes and ducks, geese, and other waterfowl that use the Central Platte. Fishery and recreation use will also receive benefit. While the program was designed in 1997, lack of funding has stalled its implementation.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior, manages the North Platte National Wildlife Refuge, in western Nebraska's panhandle. The Refuge is used primarily as a resting and feeding area for waterfowl and shorebirds and, to a lesser extent, for waterfowl production. Wildlife speciees that use the Refuge include raccoon, striped skunk, black-tailed prairie dog, eastern cottontail, and mule and white-tail deer. Some of the fish species found in Refuge lakes include walleye, crappie, yellow perch, wiper, northern pike, white bass, catfish, and carp.

Our mission is to conserve, protect and enhance fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

Further reading

• Bruce, B.W. and P.B. McMahon. (1998). Shallow ground-water quality of selected land-use/aquifer settings in the South Platte River Basin, Colorado and Nebraska, 1993-95 [U.S. Geological Survey Water-resources Investigations Report 97-4229]. Denver: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
• Condon, S.M. (2005). Geologic studies of the Platte River, south-central Nebraska and adjacent areas, geologic maps, subsurface study, and geologic history [U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1706]. Reston, VA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
• Dennehy, D.F. et al. (1998). Water quality in the South Platte River Basin, Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming, 1992-95 [U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1167]. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
• Druliner, A.D., B.J. Esmoil, and J.M. Spears. (1999). Field screening of water quality, bottom sediment, and biota associated with irrigation drainage in the North Platte Project area, Nebraska and Wyoming, 1995 [U.S. Geological Survey Water-resources Investigations Report 98-4210]. Lincoln, NE: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
• Hardgree, M. (1995). A selected bibliography on the hydrology of the Platte River Basin in Nebraska through 1991 [U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 94-496]. Lincoln, NE: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
• Kimbrough, R.A. and D.W. Litke. (1998). Pesticides in surface water in agricultural and urban areas of the South Platte River Basin, from Denver, Colorado, to North Platte, Nebraska, 1993-94 [U.S. Geological Survey Water-resources Investigations Report 97-4230]. Denver: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
• Larson, L.R. (1985). Water quality of the North Platte River, east-central Wyoming [U.S. Geological Survey Water-resources Investigations Report 84-4172]. Cheyenne, WY: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
• Litke, D.W. (1996). Sources and loads of nutrients in the South Platte River, Colorado and Nebraska, 1994-95 [U.S. Geological Survey Water-resources Investigations Report 96-4029]. Denver: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
• Sprague, L.A. and A.I. Greve. (2003). Changes in nutrient and pesticide concentrations in urban and agricultural areas of the South Platte River Basin, Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska, 1994-2000 [U.S. Geological Survey Water-resources Investigations Report 02-4270]. Denver: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Algis, Laukaitis J. Searching for the Source. UNL. Lincoln: CoJMC, 2006.
• Caponera, Daunte. Principles of Water Law and Administration: National and International. Taylor and Francis, 1992. 126-127.
• Carolyn, Johnsen. Wrestling for Resources. UNL. Lincoln: CoJMC, 2006.
• Condra, G. E. Development of the Platte River Bottomland in South Central Nebraska.

Annals of the Association of American Geographers 21 (1931): 101-105.

• Endangered and Threatened Species of the Platte River. Washington, DC: The National Academies P, 2005.
• Europeans Compete for Trade. Nebraska Studies. 20 Apr. 2008 <http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0300/frameset_reset.html?http://www.nebraskas tudies.org/0300/stories/0301_0112.htm
• Kirsch, Eileen. Wildlife Monographs, No. 132, Habitat Selection and Productivity of Least Terns on the Lower Platte River, Nebraska (Jan., 1996), pp. 3-48
• Kirsch, Eileen et al. Colonial Waterbirds, Vol. 16, No. 2 (1993), pp. 139-148
• Max, Post Van Der Burg. A Diminishing Habitat. UNL. Lincoln: CoJMC, 2006.
• McCammon, Sarah. Cohyst Project. UNL. Lincoln: CoJMC, 2006.
• Nebraska. Natural Resources. Legislative Bill 962. 2004.
• Nebraska State Map Collection. 29 Apr. 2008 <http://geology.com/state- map/nebraska.shtml>.
• Nemec, Kristine. Underground Treasure Trove. UNL. Lincoln: CoJMC, 2006.
• Phelps, Steven. Genetic Identity of Pallid and Shovelnose Sturgeon. Copeia, Vol. 1983, No. 3 (Aug. 16, 1983), pp. 696-700

Summary of LB 962 Activities. Nebraska Department Natural Resources, 2004.

External links

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