Salt Creek (Platte River tributary)
{{short description|River in Cass, Lancaster, and Saunders counties in Nebraska, United States}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox river
| name = Salt Creek
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| image = Salt_Creek,_Lincoln_NE.jpg
| image_caption = Salt Creek as seen from the Superior Street Trail, around 38th & Superior in Lincoln, NE.
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| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = United States
| subdivision_type2 = State
| subdivision_name2 = Nebraska
| subdivision_type3 = Region
| subdivision_name3 = Great Plains
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| subdivision_type5 = City
| subdivision_name5 = Lincoln
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| discharge1_location = near Ashland
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| discharge1_avg = {{convert|476|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}}{{Cite web|url=https://waterdata.usgs.gov/ne/nwis/annual/?format=sites_selection_links&search_site_no=06805000&agency_cd=USGS&referred_module=sw|title = USGS Surface Water data for Nebraska: USGS Surface-Water Annual Statistics}}
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| mouth = Platte River
| mouth_location = Mahoney State Park, Ashland, Saunders County, Nebraska, United States
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|41|02|08|N|96|18|42|W|display=inline,title}}
| mouth_elevation = {{convert|1040|ft|abbr=on}}{{cite gnis|id=833146|name=Salt Creek|accessdate=8 May 2013}}
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| river_system = Platte River basin
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Salt Creek ({{langx|paw|Káʾit Kiicuʾ}}{{Cite web|url=http://zia.aisri.indiana.edu/~dictsearch/|title=American Indian Studies Research Institute|website=zia.aisri.indiana.edu|access-date=2018-10-21}}) is a tributary of the Platte River, located in Saunders, Cass, and Lancaster counties in southeast Nebraska. It is approximately {{convert|44.38|mi|km}} in length. Salt Creek begins in southern Lancaster county and flows north to connect to the Platte River at Mahoney State Park in Ashland.{{Cite web|url=http://www.casde.unl.edu/activities/salt-creek/introduction/index.php|title=CASDE {{!}} Liquid No Weather|last=Network|first=University of Nebraska-Lincoln {{!}} Web Developer|website=www.casde.unl.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-10-21}}
Ecology
An 1861 account of Salt Creek in the vicinity of Lincoln by W.W. Cox noted its salinity, the smell of which he described as akin to "the morning breezes at the ocean beach." Cox also reported that "elk and antelope were plentiful," and that the river was "wonderfully supplied with fish."
File:Salt_Creek_Tiger_Beetle.jpg
Salt Creek, as with all other saline wetlands in southeast Nebraska, is imparted with its salinity due to the porous nature of the Dakota sandstone through which it flows. The salt in the region is ultimately sourced from Cretaceous-era shale which was deposited when Nebraska was part of a vast inland ocean known as the Western Interior Seaway.
The water quality and biodiversity of Salt Creek are greatly impacted by its proximity to the city of Lincoln. Salt Creek was channelized in an effort to reduce flooding in the city, which causes the stream to discharge water at a much faster rate. The change of flow combined with the dumping of treated sewage and urban runoff create a stream that is essentially devoid of life after it leaves the city of Lincoln.
Among species found along Salt Creek are the critically endangered Salt Creek tiger beetle, of which fewer than 200 individuals existed in 2009.{{cite web |url=http://journalstar.com/news/local/article_ead3cc0a-b13d-11de-bdfb-001cc4c002e0.html |title=Salt Creek tiger beetle featured in Goodall's book on at-risk species |author=Algis J. Laukaitis |publisher=Lincoln Journal-Star |date=5 Oct 2009 |accessdate=8 May 2013}}
Tributaries of Salt Creek
File:Little Salt Creek, Lincoln Nebraska.jpg
Salt Creek has fifteen tributaries of its own: Oak Creek, Stevens Creek, Middle Creek, Antelope Creek, Elk Creek, Beal Slough, Haines Branch, Cardwell Branch, Lynn Creek, Deadman's Run, Little Salt Creek, Rock Creek, Camp Creek, Wahoo Creek, and Dee Creek.{{cite web |url=http://dnr.ne.gov/floodplain/mitigation/salt-lincoln.html |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2016-02-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625231242/http://dnr.ne.gov/floodplain/mitigation/salt-lincoln.html |archivedate=2012-06-25 }}
See also
{{stack|{{portal|Rivers|Nebraska}}}}
References
{{reflist|22em}}
External links
{{commons category-inline|Salt Creek (Platte River tributary)}}
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Category:Tributaries of the Platte River
Category:Rivers of Lancaster County, Nebraska
Category:Rivers of Cass County, Nebraska