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]
| Salt Creek[1] | |
|---|---|
.JPG) The creek at Little Burnt Mill Road | |
 | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • coordinates | 38°6′26.02″N 104°49′5.94″W / 38.1072278°N 104.8183167°W[1] |
| Mouth | |
• location | Arkansas River |
• coordinates | 38°15′7.01″N 104°34′32.90″W / 38.2519472°N 104.5758056°W[1] |
• elevation | 4,633 feet (1,412 meters)[1] |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | Arkansas — Mississippi |
Course
editThe 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]
Pollution
editThe 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]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e "Salt Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
- ^ a b Otárola, Miguel (May 13, 2022). "How Pueblo's Salt Creek was stripped of its rights, and why activists are fighting to get them back". CPR News. Archived from the original on March 23, 2023. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
- ^ Emmons, Patrick J. (July 1976). Waterlogging in an alluvial aquifer near Lake Minnequa, Pueblo, Colorado (PDF). Water-resources investigations ; 76-53. Lakewood, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 3, 2017.
- ^ The National Map
- ^ Otárola, Miguel (July 19, 2022). "State regulators will update Pueblo steel mill's wastewater permit by the end of 2024 — but activists say that's not soon enough". Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
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