Republican River

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Coordinates: 39°3′36″N 96°48′5″W / 39.06000°N 96.80139°W / 39.06000; -96.80139
Republican River
River
Bridge across the Republican near Riverton, Nebraska
Country United States
States Kansas, Nebraska
Tributaries
 - left North Fork Republican River
 - right Arikaree River
Source
 - location Dundy County, Nebraska
 - coordinates 40°01′12″N 101°56′16″W / 40.02000°N 101.93778°W / 40.02000; -101.93778 [1]
Mouth Kansas River
 - location Jefferson Township / Smoky Hill Township, Geary County, Kansas
 - coordinates 39°3′36″N 96°48′5″W / 39.06000°N 96.80139°W / 39.06000; -96.80139 [1]
Length 453 mi (729 km) [2]
Basin 24,900 sq mi (64,491 km2) [3]
Discharge for Junction City, about 3 mi (4.8 km) above the mouth
 - average 848 cu ft/s (24 m3/s) [3]
 - max 33,700 cu ft/s (954 m3/s)
 - min 3.2 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
Map of the Republican River and its tributaries

The Republican River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America, rising in the High Plains of eastern Colorado and flowing east 453 miles (729 km)[2] through the U.S. states of Nebraska and Kansas.

Geography

The Republican River is formed by the confluence of the North Fork Republican River and the Arikaree River just north of Haigler in Dundy County, Nebraska. It joins with the South Fork Republican River immediately southeast of Benkelman, Nebraska. All three tributaries originate in the High Plains of northeastern Colorado.[4][5][6] From the confluence, the river flows generally eastward along the southern border of Nebraska, passing through Swanson Reservoir and Harlan County Reservoir before curving southward into the Smoky Hills region of Kansas. The Republican River joins the Smoky Hill River at Junction City, Kansas to form the Kansas River.

Some cities along the river are McCook, Nebraska, Clay Center, Kansas, Concordia, Kansas and Junction City, Kansas. Near Concordia is the Republican River Pegram Truss, a bridge that goes over the Republican River that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

History

The river was named after a branch of Pawnee Indians known as "the Republicans."[7]

Allocation of the water from the Republican River is governed through an agreement called the Republican River Compact, involving the states of Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado, as modified by the settlement[8] of a United States Supreme Court case involving a water-use dispute under the Compact.[9]

Major flooding

Photo of flat ground, largely covered with shallow water; poles, shrubs, and grasses projecting above surface
June 24, 1947 flood of the Republican River on the border of Jewell County, Kansas and Republic County, Kansas near Hardy, Nebraska and Webber, Kansas, just south of Nebraska NE-8 on Kansas 1 Rd/CR-1 bridge over the Republican River. The normal flood stage for the river is at the tree line in the foreground.

July 1902

On July 9, 1902, the river flooded near Concordia, breaking a dam and re-routing the river by 1/4 of a mile.[10]

May/June 1935

The storm of May 31/June 1 (called "Nebraska's Deadliest Flood") dumped an average rainfall of nine inches on the river's watershed. This storm was also unique in that it moved in the same direction as the drainage basin. As a result, the Frenchman, Red Willow, Medicine, Deer, Muddy, and Turkey creeks all reached their flood peaks at the same time as the crest passed on the Republican River.

According to witness accounts, the roar of the water could be heard coming down the Republican Valley five miles away. Many survivors also reported that there were two crests - the water came up on May 28, then receded slightly, but the second crest on June 1 greatly exceeded the first. At one point, the water rose six feet in thirty minutes and was ten to fifteen feet higher than the previous record crest. Another account states that the Republican rose 10 feet in 12 minutes in McCook; naturally, anything in the path of that wall of water would be destroyed. Water was twenty feet deep in some places, and the discharge was an incredible 280,000 cubic feet/second - more than 320 times the normal flow today.

Estimates show 113 people killed. over 11,400 to 41,500 head of cattle were killed with one report stating that carcasses littered roads as to make them impassable. 341 miles (549 km) of highway and 307 bridges were destroyed with 74,500 acres (301 km2) of farmland were inundated.[11]

Popular culture

The river is mentioned in the Chapter 30 of Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne.[12]

See also

Wikisource has the text of the 1905 New International Encyclopedia article Republican River.
  • List of Kansas rivers
  • List of Nebraska rivers

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Republican River". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed March 25, 2011
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "USGS Gage #06857100 on the Republican River at Junction City, KS". National Water Information System. U.S. Geological Survey. 1964–2014. Retrieved 2014-01-21. 
  4. ↑ "North Fork Republican River". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
  5. ↑ "South Fork Republican River". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
  6. ↑ "Arikaree River". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
  7. ↑ Stewart, George R. (1967) Names on the Land. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 223.
  8. ↑ Final Settlement Stipulation, Kansas v. Nebraska, December 15, 2002, retrieved 2012-08-14 
  9. ↑ Kansas v. Nebraska, 538 U.S. 720 (2003) (per curium order approving settlement).
  10. ↑ A Proud Past... A Pictorial History of Concordia, Kansas, by Bell, Rachel Lowrey (1998), Marceline, Missouri: D-Books Publishing.
  11. ↑ Nebraska State Historical Society "Republican Flood of 1935-Nebraska's Deadliest Flood"
  12. ↑ Verne, Jules (1876). Around the World in Eighty Days. Boston: James R. Osgood. p. 253. 

External links

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