Coldwater Creek (Oklahoma)

Coldwater Creek
Country United States
Basin
Main source Cimarron County, Oklahoma
36°29′52″N 102°53′34″W / 36.4978°N 102.8927°W / 36.4978; -102.8927[1]
River mouth Beaver River, Oklahoma
36°39′35″N 101°07′17″W / 36.65974°N 101.12127°W / 36.65974; -101.12127Coordinates: 36°39′35″N 101°07′17″W / 36.65974°N 101.12127°W / 36.65974; -101.12127
Basin size 1,903 sq mi (4,930 km2)

Coldwater Creek is an intermittently-flowing stream in northeastern New Mexico, and the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas. One source says that Coldwater Creek is also known as Rabbit Ears Creek, because it rises near Rabbit Ears, a pair of mountain peaks in Union County, New Mexico.[2] According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Coldwater Creek drains an area of 1,903 square miles (4,930 km2).[3] As of 2015, Coldwater Creek is essentially a dry stream because of prolonged drought.

Stream course

From New Mexico,it enters the south-west corner of Cimarron County, Oklahoma in the Oklahoma Panhandle. It passes easterly through Dallam, Sherman, and Hansford counties in the Texas Panhandle. Returning into the Oklahoma Panhandle, the course passes through the Optima National Wildlife Refuge, before joining the Beaver River in Texas County, Oklahoma 0.2 miles (0.32 km) above Optima Lake Dam.[lower-alpha 1]

Optima Lake

Optima Lake is about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) northeast of Hardesty, Oklahoma or 20 miles (32 km) east of Guymon). Before it was built, there was much enthuiasm about how the lake is now dry most of the time, because of the drought that has affected the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas.[lower-alpha 2] As a result, the lake project (completed in 1978), was abandoned in 2010. Public use areas have been left open, but are overgrown by vegetation and without services such as electricity and water. Major repairs have been postponed indefinitely because of budget cuts to the Corps of Engineers.[4]

As far back as 1907, the USGS reported that Coldwater Creek is a dry sand bed most of the year.[5]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Beaver River is the portion of the North Canadian River that flows through the Oklahoma Panhandle. The North Canadian flows into the Canadian River in eastern Oklahoma, then into the Arkansas River.
  2. ↑ The water level behind Optima Dam never reached its "normal pool" level after construction.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Coldwater Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  2. ↑ Rathjen, Frederick J. The Texas Panhandle Frontier. 1973. p.3. Available on Google Books. Accessed August 16, 2015.
  3. ↑ USGS, "Site Map for Oklahoma:USGS 07232900 Coldwater Creek near Guymon, OK", Accessed August 16, 2015
  4. 1 2 "Optima Lake State Park," AbandonedOK. Accessed August 21, 2015.
  5. ↑ Gould, Charles N. "The Geology and Water Resources of the Western Portion of the Panhandle of Texas."p. 48. U.S. Geological Survey, Water Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 191. 1907. Available on Google Books. Accessed August 16, 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/11/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.