| Tuttle Creek Lake | |
|---|---|
| Location | Pottawatomie / Riley / Marshall counties, northeast Kansas |
| Lake type | reservoir |
| Primary inflows | Big Blue River |
| Primary outflows | Big Blue River to Kansas River |
| Catchment area | 25,000 km² (9,600 mi²)[1] |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 25 km (16 mi)[1] |
| Max. width | 2 km (1.3 mi) |
| Surface area | 50 km² (19 mi²)[1] |
| Max. depth | 15 m (50 ft)[2] |
| Water volume | 0.41 km3 (0.098 cu mi) (normal level)[1] |
| Shore length1 | 160 km (100 mi)[1] |
| Surface elevation | 328 m (1075 ft)[1] |
| Settlements | Manhattan |
| References | [1][2] |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Tuttle Creek Lake is a reservoir on the Big Blue River 5 miles (8 km) north of Manhattan, in the Flint Hills region of northeast Kansas. It was built and is operated by the Army Corps of Engineers for the purpose of flood control.
The lake is bordered by Tuttle Creek State Park, which features 1,200 acres (4.9 km2) of recreational areas, including nature trails, camping sites, and an artificial beach.[3] The state park also hosts the Country Stampede Music Festival every summer.
Contents |
The border between Riley County (on the west) and Pottawatomie County (on the east) is submerged underneath the lake. The longest bridge in Kansas spans its northern tip.
The construction of the dam was given impetus by the Great Flood of 1951, which inundated downtown Manhattan. Nevertheless, the project met with heavy opposition from landowners whose land faced flooding. Residents of the Blue Valley organized opposition under the phrase "Let's quit this dam foolishness," and the campaign led to victory for Democrat Howard Shultz Miller in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1952.[4] Although the opposition was heated, it failed to ultimately stop the dam.
When the lake began filling up in 1962, it affected ten towns and entirely submerged four of them (from north to south): Cleburne at , Randolph, Garrison Cross and Stockdale. The only town to rebuild elsewhere was Randolph, where the streets are named after the submerged towns. The remnants of "Old Randolph", as it's known locally, can still be seen partially submerged to this day.
The value of the dam was proven during the Great Flood of 1993, when floodwaters reaching up to 63 feet (19 m) above normal were held back. However, when the dam reached capacity in July 1993, it necessitated the first release of the spillway. All 18 gates on the spillway were raised 4 feet (1.2 m) during the peak of the flood, producing a flow rate of 60,000 cubic feet per second (1,700 m³/s). The roar of the water was audible half a mile (800 m) away and some people in nearby Manhattan reported hearing the noise. After three weeks the gates were closed, revealing a 20-foot (6.1 m) deep canyon that had been carved in the earth of the spillway channel. The exposed rock is 290 million years old. Locally, this area is known as "The Canyon" and is a popular fossil-hunting area.
There is an urban legend that a manatee lives in the lake. The Manhattan Mercury has reported on the legend, and a facebook group exists for the Tuttle Creek Sea Cow.[5]
Although Kansas is not widely known as seismically active, the Humboldt fault line associated with the Nemaha Ridge passes through eastern Kansas, and probably the most active region on the line is in the general vicinity of the lake. It was recently determined that the geology of the area could potentially produce an earthquake capable of causing the dam to fail, which could risk the lives of thousands downstream in the Blue River and Kansas River valleys. The Army Corps of Engineers has started a project to strengthen the dam sufficiently to withstand such a quake. They have also established an interim warning system.[6]
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
