The South Platte River begins near Fairplay, Colorado and has a drainage basin that includes most of Colorado east of the Rocky Mountains. It runs for 439 miles through Colorado and Nebraska before it joins the North Platte River, ultimately flowing into the Missouri River (the nation’s longest).
It was originally called Niinéniiniicíihéhe by the native Arapaho people who lived on its banks. Indigenous people around the world are working on ecological restoration of our waterways, fighting for stronger measures to protect the water for future generations. Valuing the interconnectedness between people and the natural environment, they see the river as a living being and a relative.
The South Platte River through Denver is on the EPA’s list of “impaired waterbodies” due to E. coli contamination. As the river flows northeast, the story doesn’t get any better.
As the South Platte flows through northeast Colorado, it is also impacted by oil & gas infrastructure. Within one mile of the South Platte river are:
- 6,580 wells, of which 2,383 are still producing (or capable of producing) oil & natural gas.
- 4,197 wells that have been plugged and abandoned.
- 1,199 reported oil spills in the last 10 years alone, which have released oil, condensate, and produced water into the soil. Of these, 902 (or 75%) were identified as historical releases, and 297 were recent spills.
Advocates are working to revitalize the South Platte River through restoration projects that include habitat restoration, floodplain mitigation, and recreational improvements.
The data was compiled using GIS data downloaded from the Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) and OpenStreetMaps websites on October 23, 2025 at https://ecmc.colorado.gov/ and https://www.openstreetmap.org/