Black Bear Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed May 31, 2011 creek in northern

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 ...

. Black Bear Creek drains an area of U.S. Geological Survey."Site Map for Oklahoma:"Black Bear Creek at Pawnee, OK.
Accessed August 20, 2015. in

Garfield County Garfield County is the name of several counties in the United States: * Garfield County, Colorado *Garfield County, Montana *Garfield County, Nebraska *Garfield County, Oklahoma * Garfield County, Utah *Garfield County, Washington Garfie ...

, Noble County and

Pawnee County, Oklahoma Pawnee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,553. Its county seat is Pawnee. The county is named after the Pawnee Nation,Wilson, Linda D"Pawnee County,"''Encyclopedia of Oklahom ...

.U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, "Upper Black Bear Creek Watershed." October 2009.
Accessed August 20, 2015. It takes on a red color from the red clay of this area. The creek gets its name from the black bear. Though the area is outside of the range of the black bear, sightings have been rumored. The creek's

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

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically ...

is located in Pawnee County northwest of the town of

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

. Its tributaries are: Camp Creek, Cow Creek, Gansel Creek, Garber Creek, Garber Field Creek. Lutheran Creek, St. John Creek and Shale Creek."Black Bear Creek Watershed Management Plan."
/ref>

Discharge

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

stream gauge A stream gauge, streamgage or stream gauging station is a location used by hydrologists or environmental scientists to monitor and test terrestrial bodies of water. Hydrometric measurements of water level surface elevation (" stage") and/or v ...

on the creek at

Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...

recorded a mean annual discharge of during water years 1945-2019.

Flood control

The 2014 Farm Bill included an appropriation of $26.4 billion to assess or rehabilitate dams in Oklahoma. One of the many dams to be rehabilitated is known as Perry Lake Dam (officially named Upper Black Bear Creek Watershed Dam No. 62). The lake provides water to the town of

Perry, Oklahoma Perry is a city in, and county seat of, Noble County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the city population was 5,126, a 2.0 percent decrease from the figure of 5,230 in 2000. The city is home of Ditch Wit ...

, which is about northwest of

Stillwater, Oklahoma Stillwater is the tenth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and the county seat of Payne County, Oklahoma, Payne County. It is located in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. Route 177#Oklahoma, U.S. Route 177 and Oklahoma S ...

. This dam, built in 1963, also is used for flood control protection along the creek. reen, Rick. "Oklahoma dams to be rehabilitated under 2014 Farm Bill." July 19, 2014.Accessed August 20, 2015. Nineteen flood control dams have been constructed along Lower Black Bear Watershed Project. Before these were built, flooding was a serious problem. Seven major floods and 73 minor floods occurred between 1933 and 1954 in Payne and Noble counties. One example of a flood control dam along the creek is Lower Black Bear Creek Watershed Dam No. 19M, in southern Pawnee County, was built in 1980 and created Lone Chimney Lake. The surface of the lake is . An additional benefit is that the lake provides 40 percent of the municipal water consumed by

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

and Pawnee. It is also the sole or primary water source for the smaller towns of Blackburn, Glencoe, Meramec, Morrison, Skeedee, Terlton and Yale.

Notes

References

{{authority control Rivers of Oklahoma Tributaries of the Arkansas River Rivers of Pawnee County, Oklahoma