Raccoon River
| Raccoon River | |
| River | |
 The Raccoon River at Van Meter
|
|
| Country | US |
|---|---|
| State | Iowa |
| Districts | Polk County, Iowa, Dallas County, Iowa |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | South Raccoon River |
| - right | North Raccoon River |
| Source | |
| - elevation | 850 ft (259 m) |
| - coordinates | 41°32′38″N 93°58′01″W / 41.544°N 93.967°W |
| Mouth | Des Moines River |
| - location | Des Moines, Iowa |
| - elevation | 761 ft (232 m) |
| - coordinates | 41°34′44″N 93°36′43″W / 41.579°N 93.612°WCoordinates: 41°34′44″N 93°36′43″W / 41.579°N 93.612°W |
 Map of the Raccoon River watershed
|
|
| "USGS Geographic Names Information System". | |
The Raccoon River is a 30.8-mile-long (49.6 km)tributary of the Des Moines River in central Iowa in the United States. As measured using the longest of its three forks, its length increases to 226 miles (364 km). Via the Des Moines River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.
Des Moines obtains its drinking water from the Raccoon River just before the Raccoon River empties into the Des Moines River. During the Great Flood of 1993, the Raccoon River flooded the water treatment facility of Des Moines, shutting off the city's supply of drinking water.
The Raccoon River flows for much of its length as three streams:
The north and south forks join in Dallas County just west of Van Meter, and the Raccoon River flows generally eastwardly into Polk County, past Walnut Woods State Park and West Des Moines. It joins the Des Moines River just south of downtown Des Moines, and both rivers provided drinking water for the city and its inner suburbs.
The river's course runs through an intensely cultivated area of croplands and livestock farming, where slow-draining rich natural bottomlands have been tiled to drain them and bring them under cultivation. Spring thaws, such as the spring of 2013, and rainy spells after drought wash nitrate from fertilizer into the river. On November 20, 2014 nitrates spiked at 13.7 parts per million (ppm), making the water unsafe for pregnant women and infants (The US Environmental Protection Agency requires officials to inform the public about safety risks at 10 ppm.) At the time these were the highest readings in the nation.
...
Wikipedia