Coldwater Creek is an intermittently-flowing stream in northeastern
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
, and the panhandles of
Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
and
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. As far back as 1907, the USGS reported that Coldwater Creek is a dry sand bed most of the year. One source says that Coldwater Creek is also known as Rabbit Ears Creek, because it rises near
Rabbit Ears, a pair of mountain peaks in
Union County, New Mexico. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Coldwater Creek drains an area of .
Stream course
From New Mexico, it enters the south-west corner of
Cimarron County, Oklahoma in the
Oklahoma Panhandle. It passes easterly through
Dallam,
Sherman, and
Hansford counties in the
Texas Panhandle. Returning into the
Oklahoma Panhandle, the course passes through the
Optima National Wildlife Refuge, before joining the
Beaver River in
Texas County, Oklahoma
Texas County is a County (United States), county located in Oklahoma Panhandle, the panhandle of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its county seat is Guymon, Oklahoma, Guymon. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 21,3 ...
above
Optima Lake Dam.
Optima Lake
Optima Lake was built to be a reservoir about northeast of
Hardesty, Oklahoma or east of
Guymon. The lake is essentially dry most of the time, because of declining water table levels
[Logan Layden, “If you Want to Build a New Lake in Oklahoma, Forget History,” March 28, 2013, StateImpact Oklahoma] and periodic droughts that have affected the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas. As a result, the lake project (completed in 1978), was largely abandoned in 2010 when picnic tables and other structures were demolished for safety reasons. Public use areas have been left open, but are overgrown by vegetation and without services such as electricity and water. Major improvements have been postponed indefinitely because of budget cuts to the Corps of Engineers.
["Optima Lake State Park," AbandonedOK.](_blank)
Accessed August 21, 2015.
See also
*
List of rivers of Oklahoma
*
List of rivers of Texas
*
Optima Lake
Notes
References
*
USGS Geographic Names Information Service*USGS Hydrologic Unit Map - State of Texas (1974)
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Rivers of Oklahoma
Rivers of Texas
Rivers of New Mexico
Rivers of Cimarron County, Oklahoma
Rivers of Dallam County, Texas
Rivers of Sherman County, Texas
Rivers of Hansford County, Texas
Rivers of Texas County, Oklahoma
Tributaries of the North Canadian River