Denver is located on the plains
of Colorado, east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The
South Platte River runs through the heart of the city and the river's
confluence with the Cherry Creek marks the spot where Denver was
founded. Along with most of the north-east of Colorado, Denver lies
in the South Platte River basin (see image at right). The river
starts south-west of Denver in Park County - in the South Park basin
- and joins the North Platte River near North Platte, Nebraska.
The Platte River flows east through Nebraska and joins the Missouri
River south of Omaha. As the South Platte River flows through Colorado
and on into Nebraska, it flows through rural mountain, suburban,
urban, and agricultural areas. Denver is the largest urban area
this river flows through (see map below). |
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Historically, Denver has had an interesting
- and in many ways, classic - relationship with the South Platte
River. Although it will be discussed in further detail in the history
section of the website, Denver, like many other cities, developed
and grew at the cost of its rivers, creeks, and streams. What makes
Denver so intriguing, however, are the actions it took after a disastrous
flood in 1965 to address the plight of the South Platte River and
its tributaries. A web of complex, evolving relationships between
the city of Denver, other cities and towns, a regional government
organization, a non-profit, and private-sector consultants developed
to build greenways along these troubled water ways. The evolution
of these relationships and the ways these players built a regional
greenway network together are the main foci of this study. |
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