Sowashee Creek is a

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. Tributaries include Nanabe Creek. Sowashee Creek is a tributary of

Okatibbee Creek Okatibbee Creek is a stream in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Tributaries include Chickasawhay Creek, Sowashee Creek, and Suqualena Creek. Okatibbee Creek joins the Chunky River to form the Chickasawhay River. Okatibbee Dam on Okatibbee Creek imp ...

. ''Sowashee'' is a name derived from the

Choctaw language The Choctaw language (Choctaw: ), spoken by the Choctaw, an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, is part of the Muskogean language family. Chickasaw is separate but closely related language to Choctaw. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahom ...

meaning "raccoons are there". Variant names are "Siwashee Creek", "Sowwasha Creek", and "Sowwashy Creek".

History

The city of

Meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

was founded on the banks of Sowashee Creek and "Sowashee" was suggested as a possible name for the new community. The City of Meridian is constructing the Sowashee Creek Bike Trail, a multi-use recreational trail. Sowashee Creek has been subject to multiple instances of pollution and industrial runoff, including a violation of the

Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibiliti ...

that included a $120 million fine from the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

against the City of Meridian and a 5,000 gallon diesel fuel spill from a

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway (U.S.), Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the ...

railway yard.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Mississippi Rivers of Lauderdale County, Mississippi Mississippi placenames of Native American origin