Transcript Highways and Rivers

OKLAHOMA!!!
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69,903 square miles of land
77 counties
10 geographic regions
Bordered by 6 states –
– Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico
and Colorado
Highways and Byways
Major ones to know……
• Interstates will run in the following directions:
– Even numbered = East and West
– Odd numbered = North and South
• I-35 (right through center of state) is the busiest
in the nation! Great for our economy – not so
great for drug cartels….
• I-44 – diagonally through state (Tulsa and OKC)
• I-40 – horizontally across state (by OKC)
• Highway 412 – horizontally through state from
Arkansas to New Mexico border through Tulsa
Route 66 –
”The Mother
Road”
– Old Highway US 66 from Chicago to L.A., also known as
“Main Street of America”
– Most of it runs alongside I-44
– Think of the movie CARS
– Route 66 Museum in Elk City
Rivers and Lakes
• 1,224 square miles of water
• 60 major reservoirs
• 200 man made lakes
– More than any other state
• 78,578 miles of creeks and rivers
• 11,611 miles of shoreline
• 23 major ground water basins
• Tallest waterfall – 77 feet Turner Falls State
Park
• Most state parks built around lakes
• McClellan-Kerr Navigation System
– 445 river miles
– 5 locks and dams
– 10 days to reach New Orleans
• Port of Catoosa – International shipping port
– Most inland ice-free river port
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Largest lake – Lake Eufala
Grand Lake o’ the Cherokee’s – NE of Tulsa
Illinois, Arkansas and Grand River nearby
Longest river – Canadian – 776 miles
Southern border –Red River
60% of water we consume comes from lakes and
reservoirs, most for irrigation
• Typically flow NW to SE direction
• Different in different parts of the state
• Aquifer– Deep underground basin that
stores fresh water
• Most important to us –
Ogallala aquifer
– Mostly in panhandle
– Entire aquifer is across many
states
– Gives us millions of gallons of
water for irrigation