Blue River NEON - United States of America

Blue River (BLUE) is an aquatic NEON field site located in southeastern Oklahoma at the Oka' Yanahili Preserve. The preserve is managed by The Nature Conservancy and protects nearly 14.5 km2 (3600 acres) of native prairie. The river drains a 322 km2 (124 sq. mi.) watershed. It originates in the Arbuckle Plains, an area characterized by limestone geology and gentle riffles and low waterfalls along the Blue River. BLUE is a bedrock-controlled channel and is undammed or otherwise controlled. The stream is mostly wadeable, with a few deeper sections that may be unwadeable at high water, and is wide with relatively high flow volume compared to other NEON sites. BLUE is part of NEON's Southern Plains Domain (D11), which stretches over the central sections of Texas and Oklahoma and includes portions of southern Kansas and southern New Mexico. D11 has three other NEON field sites, including two terrestrial and one additional aquatic site, located in Texas and Oklahoma.