Big Blue River (Kansas)

river in Nebraska and Kansas in the United States

The Big Blue River is the biggest tributary of the Kansas River. The river is about 359 miles (578 km) long.[2] It goes from central Nebraska into Kansas, until its confluence with the Kansas River at Manhattan.

Big Blue River
Great Blue Earth River
Big Blue River above Manhattan, Kansas
Map of the Kansas River drainage basin showing the Big Blue and Little Blue rivers
Location
CountryUnited States
StateNebraska, Kansas
RegionGreat Plains
CitiesManhattan, KS, Beatrice, NE, Crete, NE, Seward, NE
Physical characteristics
Source 
 - locationNear Aurora, NE, Great Plains, United States
 - coordinates40°57′00″N 098°04′31″W / 40.95000°N 98.07528°W / 40.95000; -98.07528[1]
MouthKansas River
 - locationNear Manhattan, Great Plains, United States
 - coordinates39°11′17″N 096°31′40″W / 39.18806°N 96.52778°W / 39.18806; -96.52778[1]
Length359 mi (578 km), South[2]
Discharge 
 - locationManhattan, KS[3]
 - average982 cu ft/s (27.8 m3/s)[3]
 - minimum8 cu ft/s (0.23 m3/s)
 - maximum18,000 cu ft/s (510 m3/s)
Basin features
River systemKansas River watershed
Tributaries 
 - leftLittle Blue River, West Fork of the Little Blue River

Its name was given from the Kansa tribe of Native Americans. They lived at its mouth from 1780 to 1830. They called it the Great Blue Earth River.

River course

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The river goes through mostly agricultural land.[4] Big towns on the river include: Manhattan, Kansas, Beatrice, Nebraska; Crete, Nebraska; and Seward, Nebraska.

Water rights

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Nebraska and Kansas have an agreement on who gets to use the water. Nebraska has full use of the river's water. However, from May 1 to September 30, Nebraska must allow a certain amount to go into Kansas.[5] There has been no shortage of water in the river.

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 "Big Blue River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. 1978-10-13. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  2. 2.0 2.1 U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed March 30, 2011
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Big Blue R NR Manhattan, KS".
  4. "Big Blue River Basin". Archived from the original (English) on 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  5. "Kansas-Nebraska Big Blue River Compact" (PDF). 1971. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-26.

Other websites

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