The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River . Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska , it is itself a major river of the American Midwest and the American Southwest / Mountain West . Its drainage basin includes much of the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, much of the populated region known as the Colorado Front Range and Eastern Plains , and a portion of southeastern Wyoming in the vicinity of the city of Cheyenne . It joins the North Platte River in western Nebraska to form the Platte, which then flows across Nebraska to the Missouri . The river serves as the principal source of water for eastern Colorado. In its valley along the foothills in Colorado, it has permitted agriculture in an area of the Colorado Piedmont and Great Plains that is otherwise arid.
29-752: Lodgepole Creek is a tributary of the South Platte River , approximately 278 miles (447 km) long, in the U.S. states of Wyoming , Nebraska and Colorado . Lodgepole Creek drains a basin in the interior of a low plateau which lies between the South Platte Basin and the North Platte Basin in the southeastern corner of Wyoming, the southern edge of the Nebraska Panhandle and several small portions of northeastern Colorado. As its name implies, Lodgepole Creek
58-469: A nacelle manufacturing plant. The factories are valued at $ 290 million and will provide 1,350 employment opportunities: 650 in the blade factory and another 700 in the nacelle manufacturing plant. Groundbreaking for the factories took place on March 25, 2009. The Prairie Center is a 396-acre (1.60 km ) shopping center with a pedestrian-oriented retail village. The Greater Brighton Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau began helping small businesses in
87-593: A National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. Cheesman Reservoir feeds Cheesman Canyon. Six miles below Cheesman Reservoir is the town of Deckers; there, the river bends north for about 17 mi (27 km) to the confluence with the North Fork of the South Platte. In the late 1980s, a proposal was put forth for the Two Forks Dam, which would have created a reservoir flooding the entire section from
116-491: Is a suburb of Denver . At the 2020 United States Census , the city had a total area of 13,783 acres (55.777 km ), including 185 acres (0.747 km ) of water. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Brighton has a cold semi-arid climate , abbreviated BSk on climate maps. As of the census of 2000, there were 20,905 people, 6,718 households, and 5,058 families living in
145-752: Is a very small stream; for nearly all of its length it flows through the semiarid High Plains . The Lodgepole Creek Valley has been a major transportation route for over 100 years; the line of the original transcontinental railroad , the Lincoln Highway / U.S. Highway 30 and Interstate 80 all run along the stream for much of its length. Lodgepole Creek rises on the east slope of the Laramie Mountains of southeastern Wyoming, about 10 miles (16 km) east of Laramie, Wyoming . The creek flows east, north of Cheyenne ; it enters Nebraska just east of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming . In Nebraska, it flows to
174-675: Is formed in Park County, Colorado , southwest of Denver in the South Park grassland basin by the confluence of the South Fork and Middle Fork , about 15 mi (24 km) southeast of Fairplay . Both forks rise along the eastern flank of the Mosquito Range , on the western side of South Park, which is drained by the tributaries at the headwaters of the river. From South Park, it passes through 50 mi (80 km) of
203-517: Is highly industrialized, serving generally as the route for both the railroad lines, as well as Interstate 25 . On the north side of Denver, it is joined somewhat inconspicuously by Clear Creek , which descends from the mountains to the west in a canyon that was the cradle of the Pike's Peak Gold Rush . North of Denver, it flows through the agricultural heartland of the Piedmont (a shale region that
232-701: Is the county seat of Adams County and a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor . The city population was 40,083 at the 2020 United States Census with 39,718 residing in Adams County and 365 residing in Weld County. The town was named for Brighton Beach , New York . Brighton was founded in the 1870s as a stage/railroad depot and farming community. The town
261-632: The Colorado Eastern Plains , past Fort Morgan and Brush , where it turns northeastward. It continues past Sterling , and runs into Nebraska between Julesburg, Colorado , and Big Springs, Nebraska . In Nebraska, it passes south of Ogallala and joins the North Platte River near the city of North Platte . The South Platte River through Denver is on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 's (US EPA) list of impaired waterbodies for pathogen impairment, with E. coli as
290-680: The Platte Canyon and its lower section, Waterton Canyon. Here, it is joined by the North Fork before emerging from the foothills southwest of the Denver suburb of Littleton . At Littleton, the river is impounded to form Chatfield Reservoir , a flood-control basin for the Denver metropolitan area . The river flows north through central Denver, which was founded along its banks at its confluence with Cherry Creek . The valley through Denver
319-763: The Brighton community in 1955, paving the way for the expansion of Brighton retail, and manufacturing. The Brighton Chamber helped to secure Brighton as an Agritourism destination within the Denver Metro area for Farm Fresh Produce and opening the Brighton Visitors Center in May 2020. The Greater Brighton Chamber of Commerce is ranked the 14th Best Chamber in the Denver area per the Denver Business Journal. School District 27J serves
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#1732787867807348-480: The North Fork confluence to the town of Deckers. In 1990, the US EPA vetoed the permit, calling the project an "environmental catastrophe." From the confluence, the river flows towards Denver and enters Strontia Springs Reservoir. Below Strontia Springs, the South Platte runs through Waterton Canyon before entering Chatfield Reservoir. Chatfield marks the seventh and final dam on the South Platte until it merges with
377-533: The North Platte. The South Platte River is a gold medal western trout river on the eastern slope of Colorado, meaning it produces at least 12 trout of greater than 14 inches in length or greater per acre in areas accessible to the public. The river is well known for its wild trophy population of brown and rainbow trout . As a result of its close proximity to Denver , the river has thousands of fly fishing enthusiasts visit each year. With seven dams on
406-889: The Rio Chato (calm river). In 1702, it was named the Rio Jesus Maria by Captain Jose Naranjo, the Indigenous-Spanish scout and captain of war of the New Mexico Indian Auxiliaries, who was ordered by the viceroy of New Spain to search the Tierra Incognita for a French incursion into New Mexico. The South Platte also served as a vital water source in Colorado. Long before the city of Denver was created, many travelers came to
435-602: The South Platte River to escape the arid Great Plains. These people could survive the heat, but not without the vital water source that the South Platte gave them. Buckets and wells sufficed as a water system for a while, but eventually, the Denver Water System was created. In the late 1830s, four fur trading outposts were established on the river. In an arid region of the United States,
464-565: The South Platte is marked with several dams. The first notable water impoundment on the South Platte is Antero Reservoir . "Antero" is derived from the Spanish word "delantero", which means "foremost" or "head", as the reservoir was the first dam on the South Platte River near the river's origin. The next dam is Spinney Mountain Reservoir. At capacity, Spinney Mountain covers 2,500 acres (10 km ). A bottom-release dam, Spinney releases to
493-550: The South Platte runs northeast to Cheesman Reservoir , named for Denver water pioneer Walter S. Cheesman . At its completion in 1905, the dam was the world's tallest gravity dam, at 221 ft (67 m) above the streambed. The reservoir and related facilities were purchased in November 1918 by the Denver Water Board. Cheesman was the first reservoir of Denver's mountain storage facilities, and has been designated
522-405: The average family size was 3.34. In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 28.6% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 9.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 108.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108.3 males. The median income for a household in
551-433: The city was $ 46,779, and the median income for a family was $ 53,286. Males had a median income of $ 35,686 versus $ 27,103 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 17,927. About 6.1% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line , including 11.0% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over. Brighton is the home of two Vestas manufacturing plants, a wind turbine blade factory and
580-429: The city. The population density was 1,224.1 inhabitants per square mile (472.6/km ). There were 6,990 housing units at an average density of 409.3 per square mile (158.0/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 76.91% White , 0.99% African American , 1.47% Native American , 1.10% Asian , 0.04% Pacific Islander , 16.29% from other races , and 3.20% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 38.22% of
609-429: The east of the inlet. Two miles below Spinney Mountain Reservoir, the river enters Eleven Mile Reservoir, with a capacity of 97,000 acre-feet (120,000,000 m ). The Eleven Mile Reservoir Dam drains into Eleven Mile Canyon, which runs through Forest Service land. Three former Colorado towns, Howbert, Idlewild, and Freshwater Station, were submerged under the reservoir when it was built. From Eleven Mile Canyon ,
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#1732787867807638-623: The east past Kimball , Sidney and Chappell ; at Chappell, Lodgepole Creek turns to the southeast and flows into Colorado. The stream, by this point flowing south, empties into the South Platte River at Ovid , 3 miles (5 km) south of the Nebraska/Colorado border. According to a 1921 history of the Nebraska Panhandle, the first irrigation in that part of the state took place in the Lodgepole valley in 1871. A dam
667-434: The increase in agriculture caused the river to reach the border of Colorado and Wyoming due to return flows and dams holding back water later in the year. Increasing diversions from the upper Colorado River in the 20th century mean that flows reach the North Platte year round. The South Platte was originally called Niinéniiniicíihéhe by the native Arapaho people who lived on its banks. The early Spanish explorers called it
696-406: The population. There were 6,718 households, out of which 40.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.6% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.7% were non-families. 19.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.92 and
725-534: The representative pathogen species. Other water issues involve the appearance of the New Zealand mud snail and zebra mussel . The flows of the South Platte have been greatly modified by human activity. Originally the river was seasonal north of Fort Morgan to its confluence with the North Platte. In the 1800s the river would disappear in July, August, and September due to low flows and a sandy river bottom. By 1910
754-562: The river, the South Platte is considered a tailwater fishery. Most of these dams are bottom released, which allows for both stable water temperatures and year-round fly fishing. Popular fly-fishing stretches of the river include Waterton Canyon , Cheesman Canyon , and the Dream Stream. Brighton, Colorado Brighton is a home rule municipality city located in Adams and Weld counties, Colorado , United States. Brighton
783-409: Was built across the creek at Fort Sidney and used to provide water for crops raised by the post's soldiers. As more settlers moved into the valley, dams and ditches proliferated throughout the valley; according to the 1921 history, downstream flow was maintained by the narrowness of the valley and the fact that the creek was fed by springs along its entire length. South Platte River The river
812-700: Was formed through erosion by the ancestor of the river following the creation of the Rockies). It flows directly past the communities of Brighton and Fort Lupton , and is joined in succession by Saint Vrain Creek , the Little Thompson River , the Big Thompson River , and the Cache la Poudre River , which it receives just east of Greeley . East of Greeley, it turns eastward, flowing across
841-564: Was originally named Hughes Station . The town was incorporated in 1887. Among the notable scholars born there are Richard Ling , founding editor of Mobile Media & Communication , currently the Shaw Foundation Professor of Media Technology at Nanyang Technological University , and Max Pfeffer, Senior Associate Dean of the Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Brighton
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