Big Blue River (Kansas)

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For the stream that flows from Johnson County, Kansas through Kansas City that is often referred to as the Big Blue see Blue River (Missouri)

The Big Blue River is the largest tributary of the Kansas River. The river flows for approximately 250 miles (402 km) from central Nebraska into Kansas. It was named by the Kansa tribe of Native Americans, who camped at its mouth.

The river passes through mostly agricultural land. Shortly before intersecting with the Kansas River, the Big Blue discharges its waters into a reservoir called Tuttle Creek Lake, which lies slightly northeast of Manhattan, Kansas. The reservoir is a manmade flood-control measure, held back by a dam composed of the limestone, silt, and gypsum dredged out of the floodplain by bulldozers left to rust underneath the flooded area. It is a state park area, although the Great Flood of 1993 decimated much of the northern area.

The river continues as the outflow from Tuttle Creek Lake for approximately five miles before intersecting with the Kansas River east of Manhattan.

[edit] See also

• List of Kansas rivers
• Lakes, reservoirs, and dams in Kansas
• List of Nebraska rivers