Salt Creek [1] | |
---|---|
The creek at Little Burnt Mill Road | |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• coordinates | 38°6′26.02″N104°49′5.94″W / 38.1072278°N 104.8183167°W [1] |
Mouth | |
• location | Arkansas River |
• coordinates | 38°15′7.01″N104°34′32.90″W / 38.2519472°N 104.5758056°W [1] |
• elevation | 4,633 feet (1,412 meters) [1] |
Basin features | |
Progression | Arkansas — Mississippi |
Salt Creek is a tributary of the Arkansas River in Pueblo County, Colorado in the United States. [1] Salt Creek, Colorado, an unincorporated community and census-designated place just east of Pueblo, takes its name from the creek. [2]
The creek rises in arid rangeland southwest of Pueblo, Colorado. From there, it flows generally northeastward. At a point 2.3 miles (3.7 kilometers) west of Saint Charles Reservoir Number 3, the Minnequa Canal – which begins at a diversion dam on the Arkansas River 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Pueblo near Florence, Colorado – empties into the creek, greatly increasing its flow. The creek also receives water from the St. Charles Flood Ditch. [3] Further downstream, the creek is impounded by Saint Charles Reservoir Number 3 and then Saint Charles Reservoir Number 2. Next the creek flows under Interstate 25 and then continues northeast through the Evraz steel mill and other industrial areas, [2] then along the west side of the Salt Creek neighborhood. Finally, the creek goes under Santa Fe Drive in Pueblo and then flows east along and south of the Arkansas River, passing through several ponds and channelized sections before emptying into the Arkansas River itself. [4]
The creek receives untreated wastewater from the Evraz steel mill, and the creek's water is not treated until just before it empties into the Arkansas River. Residents upstream, including those in the Salt Creek neighborhood, are asking that exemptions the state of Colorado granted the mill in the 1970s be lifted, so that the mill is required to treat its wastewater before releasing it into the creek. [5]
Pueblo is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 111,876 at the 2020 United States Census, making Pueblo the ninth most populous city in Colorado. Pueblo is the principal city of the Pueblo, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and a major city of the Front Range Urban Corridor.
Pueblo County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 168,162. The county seat is Pueblo. The county was named for the historic city of Pueblo which took its name from the Spanish language word meaning "town" or "village". Pueblo County comprises the Pueblo, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Salt Creek is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Pueblo, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population of the Salt Creek CDP was 507 at the United States Census 2020. The Pueblo post office (Zip Code 81006) serves the area. The community takes its name from Salt Creek, a stream that flows on the community's west side.
The Colorado River is an approximately 862-mile (1,387 km) long river in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the 11th longest river in the United States and the longest river with both its source and its mouth within Texas.
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas River Valley. The headwaters derive from the snowpack in the Sawatch and Mosquito mountain ranges. It flows east into Kansas and finally through Oklahoma and Arkansas, where it meets the Mississippi River.
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The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I) was a large steel conglomerate founded by the merger of previous business interests in 1892. By 1903 it was mainly owned and controlled by John D. Rockefeller and Jay Gould's financial heirs. While it came to control many plants throughout the country, its main plant was a steel mill on the south side of Pueblo, Colorado, and was the city's main industry for most of its history. From 1901 to 1912, Colorado Fuel and Iron was one of the Dow Jones Industrials. The steel-market crash of 1982 led to the decline of the company. After going through several bankruptcies, the company was acquired by Oregon Steel Mills in 1993, and changed its name to Rocky Mountain Steel Mills. In January 2007, Rocky Mountain Steel Mills, along with the rest of Oregon Steel's holdings, were acquired by EVRAZ Group, a Russian steel corporation, for $2.3 billion.
The Fryingpan–Arkansas Project, or "Fry-Ark," is a water diversion, storage and delivery project serving southeastern Colorado. The multi-purpose project was authorized in 1962 by President Kennedy to serve municipal, industrial, and hydroelectric power generation, and to enhance recreation, fish and wildlife interests. Construction began in 1964 and was completed in 1981. The project includes five dams and reservoirs, one federal hydroelectric power plant, and 22 tunnels and conduits totaling 87 miles (140 km) in length. The Bureau of Reclamation, under the Department of the Interior built and manages the project.
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Mill Creek is a 26-mile (42 km) tributary of the Willamette River that drains a 111-square-mile (290 km2) area of Marion County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Flowing generally west from its source south of Silver Falls State Park, it passes through the cities of Aumsville, Stayton, Sublimity, and Turner before emptying into the Willamette in Salem.
Lake Pueblo State Park is a state park located in Pueblo County, Colorado. It includes 60 miles (97 km) of shoreline and 10,000 acres (40 km2) of land. Activities it offers include two full-service marinas, recreational fishing, hiking, camping and swimming at a special swim beach.
Saint Charles Reservoir is the name of three reservoirs in Pueblo County, Colorado. The first one, called just Saint Charles Reservoir, is located in the mountains of southwestern Pueblo County, southwest of Beulah, at an elevation of 8,894 feet. It is located at 38°00′00″N105°02′35″W.
Bessemer, Colorado was a city in Colorado that was incorporated in 1886. The community was named after Henry Bessemer, an English inventor. It was one of four adjacent towns settled after the Colorado Gold Rush of 1859. The communities of South Pueblo, Central Pueblo, Pueblo, and Bessemer were later merged to create the modern City of Pueblo, Colorado. Bessemer was an independent city until 1894 and was the last city to join Pueblo. The former community of Bessemer is sometimes now referred to as the Bessemer neighborhood. Its also known as the Bessemer area. The Bessemer area is home to both Bessemer Academy and Ray Aguilera Park.
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