Cedar Creek (from ) is the largest

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the St. Joseph River, draining in the Eastern Corn Belt Plains of northeastern

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed May 19, 2011 rising in northwestern

DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johann de Kalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama DeKalb County is a County (United States), county in the Northeast Alabama, northeastern part ...

and joining the St. Joseph just below the Cedarville Dam in Allen County.

Origins and history

Upper Cedar Creek originated as an ice-marginal channel at the western edge of the Erie Lobe of the

Wisconsin Glacier The Wisconsin glaciation, also called the Wisconsin glacial episode, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex, peaking more than 20,000 years ago. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleate ...

and formed a single stream with the southwest-flowing Eel River which connected to the

Wabash River The Wabash River () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana, and a significant part of Illinois, in the United ...

. Lower Cedar Creek was a

of the ancestral Eel, carrying glacial meltwater under the ice through a tunnel valley known today as Cedar Creek Canyon. Blockage of the Eel's channel by

outwash An outwash plain, also called a sandur (plural: ''sandurs''), sandr or sandar, is a plain formed of glaciofluvial deposits due to meltwater outwash at the terminus of a glacier. As it flows, the glacier grinds the underlying rock surface and c ...

from the canyon and a decline in the volume of meltwater caused lower Cedar Creek to reverse its flow. In so doing, it captured the flow of the upper Eel, a classic example of '' stream piracy'' that shifted Cedar Creek's drainage (about 175,000 acres) from the Eel-Wabash system to that of the St. Joseph-

Maumee Maumee may refer to: Places: * Maumee Township, Allen County, Indiana * Maumee, Ohio, a city in Lucas County * Maumee River, a river in northwestern Ohio and northeastern Indiana, United States * Maumee Bay, Ohio, on Lake Erie * Maumee State Fores ...

. Once a

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...

ing stream, upper Cedar Creek was channelized (straightened and deepened) in the early 20th century for agricultural and urban drainage, which has increased the

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

's vulnerability to erosion and contaminated runoff. Once home to 27 species of freshwater

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

, Cedar Creek has experienced a drastic decline in mussel population since the 1980s.

Course

Cedar Creek originates at Indian Lake (41º27'51" N 85º10'11" W), northwest of

Corunna, Indiana Corunna is a town in Richland Township, DeKalb County, Indiana, United States. The population was 236 at the 2020 census estimate. History A post office was established at Corunna in 1858. The town was most likely named after Corunna, Michigan. ...

, and comes into formal existence downstream at Cedar Lake. Its

section flows east-southeast from Indian Lake, loops around Waterloo, passes through Auburn, then angles southwest until it enters Allen County, where it is crossed by Indiana State Road 327 south of Garrett before turning back to the southeast toward Leo-Cedarville. Lower Cedar Creek, from

river mile A river mile is a measure of distance in miles along a river from its river mouth, mouth. River mile numbers begin at zero and increase further upstream. The corresponding metric unit using kilometre, kilometers is the river kilometer. They are an ...

13.7 to its

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

with the St. Joseph, is officially designated as an "Outstanding State Resource Water" and is one of three streams in Indiana's Natural, Scenic and Recreational Rivers system.

Tributaries

* (left) Willow Creek ** (left) Kell Ditch ** (left) Willow Creek Ditch *** (left) Willow Creek Branch *** (right) Hatch Ditch ** (right) Krumlauf Branch * (left) Yant Ditch ** White Lake *** Wappes Ditch *** (left) Clark Chapman Ditch **** Fulk Lake * (left) Little Cedar Creek ** (left) Black Creek *** (left) Bilger Ditch **** (right) Whan Ditch **** Roudy Lake ***** Mud Lake ** (left) Hinkley Ditch ** (left) outflow from King Lake ** (left) Yarde Ditch ** (left) Sycamore Creek * (right) Schmadel Ditch * (right) Dosch Ditch * (left) Garrett City Ditch * (left) Diehl Ditch ** (right) Peckhart Ditch *** (left) Ober Ditch * (right) W Smith Ditch * (right) Matson Ditch * (left) Swartz Ditch * (right) Dibbling Ditch * Cedar Lake ** Leins Ditch *** (left) McCullough Ditch *** Indian Lake

References

External links

*
Topographic map from TopoQuest: Cedar Creek headwaters at Indian LakeTopographic map from TopoQuest: Cedar Creek headwaters at Cedar LakeTopographic map from TopoQuest: Cedar Creek confluence with St. Joseph RiverNational Weather Service: Current Hydrologic Data for Cedar Creek at AuburnNational Weather Service: Current Hydrologic Data for Cedar Creek near Leo-CedarvilleCedar Creek Wildlife ProjectSt. Joseph River Watershed InitiativeMaumee River Basin Commission

Abstract: M. Larose ''et al.'', "Hydrologic and Atrazine Simulation of the Cedar Creek Watershed Using the SWAT Model," ''Journal of Environmental Quality'', 36:521-531 (2007).
{{authority control Rivers of Allen County, Indiana Rivers of DeKalb County, Indiana Rivers of Indiana

Origins and history

Course

Tributaries

See also

References

External links