Village Creek (Texas)

Last updated
Village Creek
Village Creek - Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary.jpg
Village Creek (Texas)
Location
Country United States
State Texas
Physical characteristics
Source 
  locationThe confluence of Big Sandy Creek and Kimball creek, Hardin County, Texas
  coordinates 30°30′08″N94°26′03″W / 30.50222°N 94.43417°W / 30.50222; -94.43417
  elevation131 ft (40 m)
Mouth The Neches River southeast of Lumberton, Texas
  location
30°14′30″N94°07′10″W / 30.24167°N 94.11944°W / 30.24167; -94.11944
  elevation
29 ft (9 m)
Basin features
Tributaries 
  right Turkey Creek

Village Creek is a blackwater tributary of the Neches River in Texas, United States. [1] [2] It arises in northwestern Hardin County outside the community of Village Mills. Due to the waterway's isolation and absence of impoundments, it is known to be pristine supporting cypress swamps and hardwood forests, as well as many rare and endangered species. [3] It is 63 miles (101 km) long and average streamflow at the mouth is approximately 1,000 cubic feet per second (28 m3/s). [2] It passes through three conservation areas on the way south, being: the Big Thicket National Preserve - Village Creek Corridor Unit, Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary, and Village Creek State Park. [2] [4] [5]

Contents

Ecology and Wildlife

Several areas in the creek's drainage are home to arid sandyland habitat dominated by Longleaf Pine ( Pinus palustris), Blue Jack Oak ( Quercus incana ) and farkleberry ( Vaccinium arboreum ). Large deposits of well draining sand left behind by receding seas contribute to the area's xeric nature. Additionally, lack of nutrients in the substrate causes sparse overstory, leading to higher average temperatures and more dryness. Some common understory plants include the prairie prickly pear cactus (Opuntia macrorhiza), Gulf Coast Yucca ( Yucca louisianensis ), Sandhill sunflower (helianthus debilis subsp. silvestris), as well as rare plants such as Oklahoma Prairie Clover (Dalea villosa subsp. grisea), and the endemic Texas trailing phlox (Phlox nivalis subsp. texensis). [6]

An oak-farkleberry-longleaf sandyland adjacent to the creek Arid Sandyland Habitat - Hardin County Texas.jpg
An oak-farkleberry-longleaf sandyland adjacent to the creek
Village Creek near Silsbee Village Creek near Silsbee, Texas (25648007622).jpg
Village Creek near Silsbee

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neches River</span> River in East Texas

The Neches River begins in Van Zandt County west of Rhine Lake and flows for 416 miles (669 km) through the piney woods of east Texas, defining the boundaries of 14 counties on its way to its mouth on Sabine Lake near the Rainbow Bridge. Two major reservoirs, Lake Palestine and B. A. Steinhagen Reservoir are located on the Neches. The Angelina River is a major tributary with its confluence at the north of Lake B. A. Steinhagen. Tributaries to the south include Village Creek and Pine Island Bayou, draining much of the Big Thicket region, both joining the Neches a few miles north of Beaumont. Towns and cities located along the river including Tyler, Lufkin, and Silsbee, although significant portions of the Neches River are undeveloped and flow through protected natural lands. In contrast, the lower 40 miles of the river are a major shipping channel, highly industrialized, with a number of cities and towns concentrated in the area including Beaumont, Vidor, Port Neches, Nederland, Groves, and Port Arthur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hardin County, Texas</span> County in Texas, United States

Hardin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 56,231. The county seat is Kountze. The county is named for the family of William Hardin from Liberty County, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kountze, Texas</span> City in Texas, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southeast Texas</span> Region of Texas

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piney Woods</span> Temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of the United States

The Piney Woods is a temperate coniferous forest terrestrial ecoregion in the Southern United States covering 54,400 square miles (141,000 km2) of East Texas, southern Arkansas, western Louisiana, and southeastern Oklahoma. These coniferous forests are dominated by several species of pine as well as hardwoods including hickory and oak. Historically the most dense part of this forest region was the Big Thicket though the lumber industry dramatically reduced the forest concentration in this area and throughout the Piney Woods during the 19th and 20th centuries. The World Wide Fund for Nature considers the Piney Woods to be one of the critically endangered ecoregions of the United States. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines most of this ecoregion as the South Central Plains.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Thicket</span> Heavily-forested area of Southeast Texas in the United States

The Big Thicket is the name given to a somewhat imprecise region of a heavily forested area of Southeast Texas in the United States. This area represents a portion of the mixed pine-hardwood forests or "Piney Woods" of the Southeast US. The National Park Service established the Big Thicket National Preserve (BTNP) within the region in 1974 and it is recognized as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO. Although the diversity of animals in the area is high for a temperate zone with over 500 vertebrates, it is the complex mosaic of ecosystems and plant diversity that is particularly remarkable. Biologists have identified at least eight, and up to eleven, ecosystems in the Big Thicket area. More than 160 species of trees and shrubs, 800 herbs and vines, and 340 types of grasses are known to occur in the Big Thicket, and estimates as high as over 1000 flowering plant species and 200 trees and shrubs have been made, plus ferns, carnivorous plants, and more. The Big Thicket has historically been the most dense forest region in Texas.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Sandy Creek (Village Creek tributary)</span> A stream located in southeastern Texas, United States

Big Sandy Creek is a stream in Texas, United States. It rises in Polk County before flowing approximately 40 miles (64 km) southeast into Hardin County where it merges with Kimball Creek, forming Village Creek. Long sections of the creek pass through the Big Thicket National Preserve. The 14,343 acres (58.04 km2) Big Sandy Creek unit is named after the stream. The creek also passes through the Alabama-Coushatta Reservation reservation east of Livingston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pine Island Bayou</span> River in the United States

Pine Island Bayou is a tributary of the Neches River located in southeast Texas. It runs about 55 miles from the northwest corner of Hardin County, Texas and flows in a southeastern direction through western Hardin County, turning east and defining the southern Hardin and Jefferson County boundary for about 20 miles until its confluence with the Neches River. Two significant tributaries of Pine Island Bayou are Mayhaw Creek and Little Pine Island Bayou. The lower ten miles of Pine Island Bayou and much of Little Pine Island Bayou are protected from development in the Big Thicket National Preserve. Excluding the last few miles north of Beaumont, the area is not densely populated, and some small towns include Sour Lake and Saratoga, the latter the birthplace of country singer George Jones.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government Canyon State Natural Area</span> Protected area in Texas, United States

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Kirby Lake is a 740-acre man-made reservoir located on the south side of Abilene, Texas, just east of Highway 83, in the northeastern portion of Taylor County. Kirby Lake is within the Brazos River Basin, meaning that Cedar Creek, which feeds Kirby Lake, eventually feeds into the Brazos River. Kirby Lake resides in the Red Prairies portion of the Central Great Plains ecoregion. Management is under the City of Abilene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Tyler</span> Reservoir in Tyler, Texas

Lake Tyler (West) is a man-made public water reservoir located south-east of Tyler, Texas, in eastern Smith County. While named after the town of Tyler (pop. 104,789), Lake Tyler is closer to the smaller cities of Whitehouse (pop. 7660) and Arp (pop. 970). Lake Tyler resides in the northern Neches River watershed, and was formed after the completion of Whitehouse Dam on Prairie Creek in 1949. The design engineer of the dam was T.C. Forrest (Now Forrest and Cotton, Inc.), and the earthfill dam was constructed to be 4,708 feet long, standing at a maximum height of 50 feet, with a width of 20 feet and a drainage area of 48 square miles, according to the Texas Water Development Board. Lake Tyler is found in the Piney Woods ecoregion of eastern Texas, a temperate coniferous forest hosting a great amount of biodiversity. Just to the east of the lake lies Lake Tyler East, created after the completion of Mud Creek Dam in early 1967. Just over a year later, in May 1968, the two lakes were connected by a canal to combine the water supply. Together, the two lakes have a combined safe yield of over 30 million gallons per day, and combine to encompass an approximate surface area of 4,714 acres, all maintained and operated by the city of Tyler to provide a source of public water to several surrounding communities.

Lake Tyler East is a reservoir on Mud Creek in the Neches River Basin of Smith County, Texas. It is neighbored by Whitehouse, Texas that is encompassed by Tyler, Texas which resides within the South Central Plains ecoregion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turkey Creek (Village Creek Tributary)</span> A stream in southeastern Texas, United States

Turkey Creek is a stream in Texas, United States. It rises in Central Tyler county and flows 30 miles (48 km) before converging with Village Creek, east of Kountze, Hardin County. It passes through the 8,032-acre (3,250 ha) Turkey Creek Unit of the Big Thicket National Preserve on its way south.

References

  1. Moriarty, Loren J.; Kirk O. Winemiller (August 1997). "Spatial and temporal variation in fish assemblage structure in Village Creek, Hardin County, Texas" (PDF). Texas Journal of Science . 49 (3 [Supplement]): 85–110.
  2. 1 2 3 Roland H. Wauer; Mark Elwonger (1998). Birding Texas. Globe Pequot Press. p. 282. ISBN   978-1-56044-617-0.
  3. "TPWD: An Analysis of Texas Waterways (PWD RP T3200-1047) -- Village Creek". tpwd.texas.gov. Retrieved 2022-08-29.
  4. "Village Creek State Park". Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
  5. "Waterway Corridor Units - Big Thicket National Preserve (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. National Park Service. Retrieved 2022-08-29.
  6. Ajilvsgi, Geyata (1979). Wildflowers of the Big Thicket: East Texas and Western Louisiana (1st ed.). College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press. pp. 21–22. ISBN   0-89096-065-8.