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77-457: Minetta Creek was one of the largest natural watercourses in Manhattan , New York City , United States. Minetta Creek was fed from two tributaries , one originating at Fifth Avenue and 21st Street, and the other originating at Sixth Avenue and 16th Street. They joined near Fifth Avenue and 11th Street then took a southwesterly course. Minetta Creek's name is thought to have originated from either

154-415: A U.S. federal cadastral survey done for purposes of taxation, also reprinted by Hoffman – laid out the line of West Street, which had been built over landfill. The survey took note of three particular locations. The first was a point 150 feet (46 m) north of Greenwich Street "from the center of the arch or bridge over Bestaver's Killtjie." Hoffman added a note: "Bestaver's Killtjie was afterward known as

231-403: A bed armor layer, and other depositional features, plus well defined banks due to bank erosion, are good identifiers when assessing for perennial streams. Particle size will help identify a perennial stream. Perennial streams cut through the soil profile, which removes fine and small particles. By assessing areas for relatively coarse material left behind in the stream bed and finer sediments along

308-658: A continuous aquatic habitat until they reach maturity. Crayfish and other crustaceans , snails , bivalves (clams), and aquatic worms also indicate the stream is perennial. These require a persistent aquatic environment for survival. Fish and amphibians are secondary indicators in assessment of a perennial stream because some fish and amphibians can inhabit areas without persistent water regime. When assessing for fish, all available habitat should be assessed: pools, riffles, root clumps and other obstructions. Fish will seek cover if alerted to human presence, but should be easily observed in perennial streams. Amphibians also indicate

385-463: A continuous or intermittent stream. The same non-perennial channel might change characteristics from intermittent to ephemeral over its course. Washes can fill up quickly during rains, and there may be a sudden torrent of water after a thunderstorm begins upstream, such as during monsoonal conditions. In the United States, an intermittent or seasonal stream is one that only flows for part of

462-598: A creek, especially one that is fed by a spring or seep . It is usually small and easily forded . A brook is characterised by its shallowness. A creek ( / k r iː k / ) or crick ( / k r ɪ k / ): In hydrography, gut is a small creek; this is seen in proper names in eastern North America from the Mid-Atlantic states (for instance, The Gut in Pennsylvania, Ash Gut in Delaware, and other streams) down into

539-422: A drainage network. Although each tributary has its own source, international practice is to take the source farthest from the river mouth as the source of the entire river system, from which the most extended length of the river measured as the starting point is taken as the length of the whole river system, and that furthest starting point is conventionally taken as the source of the whole river system. For example,

616-674: A dumping ground. When Viele once gave a talk on the creek, an elderly physician in the audience recalled cases of intermittent fever due to the creek. Viele was quoted as saying "I have no doubt that the water in Mr. Sayles's cellar comes from the sources of Minetta Creek." He then described the source of Minetta Creek as a perennial spring . Viele concluded that because the springs were natural, dams could not be installed upon them. The 1892 article recommended better drainage for Manhattan's subterranean water sources. In his 1894 book, In Old New York , Thomas A. Janvier wrote: "Although Manetta Creek no longer

693-622: A lake in what is now the West Village ". Bestevaer's Killetje formed a convenient landmark designation for surveyors. Murray Hoffman's Treatise Upon the Estate and Rights of the Corporation of the City of New York, as Proprietors reprints numerous historical documents from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a number of which mention Minetta Creek. Most of these pre-nineteenth century documents refer to

770-431: A large pond called Bollus's Pond, where Downing Street now is; the low swampy grounds that were filled up caused this pond, which lay a little north-west of Richmond Hill." The covering of Minetta Stream began in 1820, when the common council appointed James Wallace to build a Minetta sewer . Joan H. Geismar, an urban archaeologist who wrote an archaeological assessment of Washington Square Park in 2005, hypothesized that

847-532: A larger stream. Common terms for individual river distributaries in English-speaking countries are arm and channel . There are a number of regional names for a stream. A stream's source depends on the surrounding landscape and its function within larger river networks. While perennial and intermittent streams are typically supplied by smaller upstream waters and groundwater, headwater and ephemeral streams often derive most of their water from precipitation in

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924-404: A path into mines or other underground chambers. According to official U.S. definitions, the channels of intermittent streams are well-defined, as opposed to ephemeral streams, which may or may not have a defined channel, and rely mainly on storm runoff, as their aquatic bed is above the water table . An ephemeral stream does not have the biological, hydrological, and physical characteristics of

1001-412: A perennial stream and include tadpoles , frogs , salamanders , and newts . These amphibians can be found in stream channels, along stream banks, and even under rocks. Frogs and tadpoles usually inhabit shallow and slow moving waters near the sides of stream banks. Frogs will typically jump into water when alerted to human presence. Well defined river beds composed of riffles, pools, runs, gravel bars,

1078-483: A perennial stream, fine sediment may cling to riparian plant stems and tree trunks. Organic debris drift lines or piles may be found within the active overbank area after recent high flow. Streams, headwaters, and streams flowing only part of the year provide many benefits upstream and downstream. They defend against floods, remove contaminants, recycle nutrients that are potentially dangerous as well as provide food and habitat for many forms of fish. Such streams also play

1155-406: A slow-moving wetted channel or stagnant area. This is evidence that iron-oxidizing bacteria are present, indicating persistent expression of oxygen-depleted ground water. In a forested area, leaf and needle litter in the stream channel is an additional indicator. Accumulation of leaf litter does not occur in perennial streams since such material is continuously flushed. In the adjacent overbank of

1232-486: A stream as intermittent, "showing interruptions in time or space". Generally, streams that flow only during and immediately after precipitation are termed ephemeral . There is no clear demarcation between surface runoff and an ephemeral stream, and some ephemeral streams can be classed as intermittent—flow all but disappearing in the normal course of seasons but ample flow (backups) restoring stream presence — such circumstances are documented when stream beds have opened up

1309-424: A stream is a critical factor in determining its character and is entirely determined by its base level of erosion. The base level of erosion is the point at which the stream either enters the ocean, a lake or pond, or enters a stretch in which it has a much lower gradient, and may be specifically applied to any particular stretch of a stream. In geological terms, the stream will erode down through its bed to achieve

1386-524: A thin layer called sheet wash, combined with a network of tiny rills, which together form the sheet runoff; when this water is focused in a channel, a stream is born. Some rivers and streams may begin from lakes or ponds. Freshwater's primary sources are precipitation and mountain snowmelt. However, rivers typically originate in the highlands, and are slowly created by the erosion of mountain snowmelt into lakes or rivers. Rivers usually flow from their source topographically, and erode as they pass until they reach

1463-605: A vital role in preserving our drinking water quality and supply, ensuring a steady flow of water to surface waters and helping to restore deep aquifers. The extent of land basin drained by a stream is termed its drainage basin (also known in North America as the watershed and, in British English, as a catchment). A basin may also be composed of smaller basins. For instance, the Continental Divide in North America divides

1540-435: Is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel, and the phenomenon is known as river bifurcation . Distributaries are common features of river deltas , and are often found where a valleyed stream enters wide flatlands or approaches the coastal plains around a lake or an ocean . They can also occur inland, on alluvial fans , or where a tributary stream bifurcates as it nears its confluence with

1617-425: Is sometimes termed a "young" or "immature" stream, and the later state a "mature" or "old" stream. Meanders are looping changes of direction of a stream caused by the erosion and deposition of bank materials. These are typically serpentine in form. Typically, over time the meanders gradually migrate downstream. If some resistant material slows or stops the downstream movement of a meander, a stream may erode through

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1694-456: Is usually called a creek and marked on topographic maps with a solid blue line. There are five generic classifications: "Macroinvertebrate" refers to easily seen invertebrates , larger than 0.5 mm, found in stream and river bottoms. Macroinvertebrates are larval stages of most aquatic insects and their presence is a good indicator that the stream is perennial. Larvae of caddisflies , mayflies , stoneflies , and damselflies require

1771-458: Is visible on the surface, it still flows in diminished volume through its ancient channel—as those living near or over it sometimes know to their cost." Janvier described the creek's path and warned that no buildings could be built on or near it without extensive reinforcements to their foundations. In addition to Sayles's store, he mentioned the recent floodings of the Lincoln Building at

1848-562: The New York State Legislature to investigate housing conditions in tenements , and they spent many days interrogating various residents. On October 27, 1884 they interrogated John F. Attridge, a real estate agent, on living conditions in various kinds of housing in lower Manhattan. At one point Doctor S. Oakley Vanderpoel raised the subject of whether houses built over filled-in ground had proper drainage. To this Attridge responded: "I lived for fifteen years over Minetta Brook, and

1925-663: The Tombigbee River basin. Continuing in this vein, a component of the Mississippi River basin is the Ohio River basin, which in turn includes the Kentucky River basin, and so forth. Stream crossings are where streams are crossed by roads , pipelines , railways , or any other thing which might restrict the flow of the stream in ordinary or flood conditions. Any structure over or in a stream which results in limitations on

2002-596: The Topographical & Sanitary Map of Manhattan published in 1865. Viele had first investigated the creek in 1860, using a British survey made at the time of the Revolutionary War. Viele explained that the creek was a source of water prior to construction of the Croton Distributing Reservoir . Once the reservoir had been completed in 1842, the creek was no longer needed as a water source, and it became

2079-476: The velocity of the stream. A perennial stream is one which flows continuously all year. Some perennial streams may only have continuous flow in segments of its stream bed year round during years of normal rainfall. Blue-line streams are perennial streams and are marked on topographic maps with a solid blue line. The word "perennial" from the 1640s, meaning "evergreen," is established in Latin perennis, keeping

2156-675: The Caribbean (for instance, Guinea Gut , Fish Bay Gut , Cob Gut , Battery Gut and other rivers and streams in the United States Virgin Islands , in Jamaica (Sandy Gut, Bens Gut River, White Gut River), and in many streams and creeks of the Dutch Caribbean ). A river is a large natural stream that is much wider and deeper than a creek and not easily fordable, and may be a navigable waterway . The linear channel between

2233-634: The Dutch era, the area surrounding the creek was known as the Land of the Blacks and settled by freed Africans. A path along the creek, called the "Negroes' Causeway", later formed the hub of the Little Africa neighborhood and now follows part of the route of Minetta Street. The creek, whose course formed a well-defined channel, was known for its abundance of fish, in particular trout. Pickerel , bass , and pike were among

2310-540: The Hudson river, now lying and being under the water of the same river, to begin at a certain place near high water mark at the south end of a piece of upland, which lies between the said river and a piece of meadow ground or marsh, being the first piece of meadow ground or marsh near Hudson river to the southward of Greenwich, and from whence the above named run of water called Bestaver's Killetjie or rivulet runs into Hudson's river, from which place of beginning, to extend or run to

2387-455: The Minetta Brook, and crossed Greenwich street in the vicinity of Charlton Street." He concluded his note by stating that this geographic point was represented in an 1807 map made by Charles Loss. A swamp area existed in what is now Washington Square Park , fed by the waters of Minetta Creek. The creek served as a boundary between a potter's field which was established on April 7, 1797, and

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2464-525: The Native American term " Manette ", meaning "Devil's Water", or the Dutch word "Minnetje", meaning "the little one". Minetta Creek was originally known by the Dutch as Bestevaer's Killetje . During the 18th century, large amounts of wildlife could be seen around the creek. In the early 1820s, the New York City common council commissioned a project to divert Minetta Creek into a covered sewer. The creek

2541-445: The area. The residential brownstone residence at 45 West Twelfth Street was built in 1846, with its eastern wall at an odd shape, slightly overlapping its neighbor at 43 West Twelfth Street (erected in 1861). This wall had been necessitated because the house was built on the bank of Minetta Creek. With increasing numbers of immigrants moving to the area during the latter half of the nineteenth century, several doctors were appointed by

2618-533: The atmosphere either by evaporation from soil and water bodies, or by plant evapotranspiration. By infiltration some of the water sinks into the earth and becomes groundwater, much of which eventually enters streams. Most precipitated water is partially bottled up by evaporation or freezing in snow fields and glaciers. The majority of the water flows as a runoff from the ground; the proportion of this varies depending on several factors, such as climate, temperature, vegetation, types of rock, and relief. This runoff begins as

2695-525: The base level of erosion throughout its course. If this base level is low, then the stream will rapidly cut through underlying strata and have a steep gradient, and if the base level is relatively high, then the stream will form a flood plain and meander. Typically, streams are said to have a particular elevation profile , beginning with steep gradients, no flood plain, and little shifting of channels, eventually evolving into streams with low gradients, wide flood plains, and extensive meanders. The initial stage

2772-586: The base stage of erosion. The scientists have offered a way based on data to define the origin of the lake. A classified sample was the one measured by the Chinese researchers from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. As an essential symbol of the river formation environment, the river source needs an objective and straightforward and effective method of judging . A calculation model of river source catchment area based on critical support flow (CSD) proposed, and

2849-403: The chief engineer of contractor Marcus Construction Company, attributed the source to Minetta Creek. A photograph of the site under construction shows a pool of water from the creek. In 1977, during construction on Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center , Crimmins Construction encountered water from Minetta Creek. Robert Crimmins reported that the water was "quite clean" and that it flows "through

2926-535: The closing of the potter's field on May 25, 1825, the council chose to transform the area into a military parade ground, which eventually became Washington Square Park. By autumn 1828, the creek was diverted to the Hudson River through a wooden sewer. By 1849, the Richmond Hill estate near the southern end of the stream had been demolished, with row houses taking its place, indicating that water no longer flowed through

3003-617: The creek by its Dutch name, Bestavaer's Killtjie (or, in a more probable spelling, Bestevaer's Killetje ). One of the most significant of pre-American Revolutionary War documents consolidating ownership of land in Manhattan was the Montgomerie Charter, named after governor John Montgomerie , dated January 15, 1730, and ratified by the Colonial Legislature in 1732. It stated in part: ... [A]ll that space of ground and soil of

3080-448: The creek still exists, based on evidence of flooding in basements and cellars. Will Hunt, searching in 2011, could not find any evidence of subterranean water. In 2012, local news station WCBS-TV ran a story about several people looking into a manhole on Sixth Avenue, along the creek's former route, where observers found water that "looked too clean for the city sewer". Steve Duncan, a historian and self-described geographer, told WCBS about

3157-535: The creek's course. Minetta Creek was one of Manhattan's largest natural waterways. Nearly 2 miles (3.2 km) long, Minetta Creek began from two tributaries , the main one having its source near Fifth Avenue and 21st Street, and a secondary one that had its source at Sixth Avenue and 16th Street. The streams flowed southward and joined within the block bound by 11th and 12th Streets between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. From there it flowed southward across modern-day Washington Square Park . It then crossed southwest along

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3234-533: The estate at Hessilhead , which was auctioned off in 1722 to pay off accumulated debts. Montgomerie served in the 3rd Foot Guards , and was elected to Parliament for Ayrshire between 1710 and 1722. When George II ascended the throne in 1727 he rewarded Montgomerie for his service with the governorship of New York and New Jersey , a position Montgomerie may have sought on account of his financial difficulties. During Montgomerie's term in New York he presided over

3311-689: The flow is reduced to a trickle or less. Typically torrents have Apennine rather than Alpine sources, and in the summer they are fed by little precipitation and no melting snow. In this case the maximum discharge will be during the spring and autumn. An intermittent stream can also be called a winterbourne in Britain, a wadi in the Arabic -speaking world or torrente or rambla (this last one from arabic origin) in Spain and Latin America. In Australia, an intermittent stream

3388-447: The form of rain and snow. Most of this precipitated water re-enters the atmosphere by evaporation from soil and water bodies, or by the evapotranspiration of plants. Some of the water proceeds to sink into the earth by infiltration and becomes groundwater, much of which eventually enters streams. Some precipitated water is temporarily locked up in snow fields and glaciers , to be released later by evaporation or melting. The rest of

3465-516: The ground quite rapidly." The construction of Jimi Hendrix 's Electric Lady Studios , in 1968, had been delayed in part due to flooding attributed to Minetta Creek. In 2014, author Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah wrote about a visit to Electric Lady Studios in The Believer , where she saw water from the creek "rushing clear and steady" through a hole in the studio's cellar. To this day, it is disputed whether Minetta Creek actually exists. Bloggers claim that

3542-407: The immediate vicinity of a stream is called a riparian zone . Given the status of the ongoing Holocene extinction , streams play an important corridor role in connecting fragmented habitats and thus in conserving biodiversity . The study of streams and waterways in general is known as surface hydrology and is a core element of environmental geography . A brook is a stream smaller than

3619-462: The issuance of what became known as the Montgomerie Charter for New York City . This served as the city's governing charter for more than a century, even though it was never formally approved by the crown. The city appropriated a sum of £1,000 at the times which may have served as a bribe to various colonial officials, including Montgomerie. His tenure in office saw the city's export exceed those of Boston and Philadelphia , which had until then been

3696-524: The lake has significant feeder rivers. The Kagera River, which flows into Lake Victoria near Bukoba's Tanzanian town , is the longest feeder, though sources do not agree on which is the Kagera's longest tributary and therefore the Nile's most remote source itself. To qualify as a stream, a body of water must be either recurring or perennial. Recurring (intermittent) streams have water in the channel for at least part of

3773-653: The mainly easterly-draining Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean basins from the largely westerly-flowing Pacific Ocean basin. The Atlantic Ocean basin, however, may be further subdivided into the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico drainages. (This delineation is termed the Eastern Continental Divide .) Similarly, the Gulf of Mexico basin may be divided into the Mississippi River basin and several smaller basins, such as

3850-545: The major trade centers in the North American colonies. He also oversaw the final agreement of the borders between New York and the neighboring Connecticut Colony . Montgomerie served as governor until 1 July 1731, when he died of an epileptic seizure . He was replaced on an acting basis by Rip Van Dam in New York and Lewis Morris in New Jersey, who served until his official replacement, William Cosby , arrived to assume

3927-412: The meaning as "everlasting all year round," per "over" plus annus "year." This has been proved since the 1670s by the "living years" in the sense of botany. The metaphorical sense of "enduring, eternal" originates from 1750. They are related to "perennial." See biennial for shifts in vowels. Perennial streams have one or more of these characteristics: Absence of such characteristics supports classifying

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4004-640: The movement of fish or other ecological elements may be an issue. John Montgomerie Colonel John Montgomerie (died 1731) was colonial governor of New York and New Jersey from 1728 to 1731. Montgomerie was born in the parish of Beith in Scotland . His father, Francis Montgomerie , was a member of the Privy Council under William III and Mary II and Queen Anne , and lord of Castle Giffen in Beith. When John Montgomerie married, his father gave him

4081-453: The neck between two legs of a meander to become temporarily straighter, leaving behind an arc-shaped body of water termed an oxbow lake or bayou . A flood may also cause a meander to be cut through in this way. The stream load is defined as the solid matter carried by a stream. Streams can carry sediment, or alluvium. The amount of load it can carry (capacity) as well as the largest object it can carry (competence) are both dependent on

4158-579: The origin of the Nile River is the confluence of the White Nile and the Blue Nile, but the source of the whole river system is in its upper reaches. If there is no specific designation, "length of the Nile" refers to the "river length of the Nile system", rather than to the length of the Nile river from the point where it is formed by a confluence of tributaries. The Nile's source is often cited as Lake Victoria, but

4235-430: The other hand, has a relatively constant input and is controlled more by long-term patterns of precipitation. The stream encompasses surface, subsurface and groundwater fluxes that respond to geological, geomorphological, hydrological and biotic controls. Streams are important as conduits in the water cycle , instruments in groundwater recharge , and corridors for fish and wildlife migration. The biological habitat in

4312-415: The parallel ridges or bars on a shoreline beach or river floodplain, or between a bar and the shore. Also called a swale . A tributary is a contributory stream to a larger stream, or a stream which does not reach a static body of water such as a lake , bay or ocean but joins another river (a parent river). Sometimes also called a branch or fork. A distributary , or a distributary channel ,

4389-483: The past two centuries familiar to this neighborhood as Minetta Brook Another theory is that the name is an Anglicization of the Dutch root "min" or "minuut" (English: little) and suffix "-tje" to produce "Minnetje" or "The little one" to distinguish it from the Groot Kill, a large creek that was a mile away. However, 'min' in Dutch does not translate to "little"; in modern Dutch, it translates to "minus" or "less". In

4466-503: The people always considered it the most unhealthy place in New York, but there was nobody sick." In 1892, the New York Times reported the flooding of the cellar of Solomon Sayles, a merchant whose store was located at 126 Sixth Avenue, between Tenth and Eleventh Streets. This incident provided the Times 's reporter an opportunity to speak with Egbert Ludovicus Viele , who had designed

4543-579: The presence of potholes on 12th and 13th streets near where the creek crossed these streets, as well as flooding in basements along the creek's route. 40°43′48″N 74°00′05″W  /  40.7299°N 74.0013°W  / 40.7299; -74.0013 Watercourse The flow of a stream is controlled by three inputs – surface runoff (from precipitation or meltwater ), daylighted subterranean water , and surfaced groundwater ( spring water ). The surface and subterranean water are highly variable between periods of rainfall. Groundwater, on

4620-541: The present route of Minetta Lane, one of the creek's namesake streets. The creek then roughly followed the current path of Minetta Street, a one-block road going south from Minetta Lane before curving southwest to meet Sixth Avenue. Minetta Creek then turned west along what is now Downing Street and eventually discharged into the Hudson River near Charlton Street. Minetta Creek is alternatively called Minetta Brook , Minetta Stream , Minetta Water , or Minetta Waters . It

4697-589: The purpose of this sewer was in part to function as a drain directing water away from the potter's field. Geismar surmised that the building of the sewer was not enough for the creek to avoid the cemetery because in 1823, the common council directed Thomas Cummings to deepen the riverbed of Minetta Creek. Due to the opening of Fifth Avenue, on December 10, 1824, the Council directed that Minetta Creek be culverted from its location at Fourth Street (now Washington Square South) to Sixth Street (now Washington Square North). With

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4774-465: The relationship between CSA and CSD with a minimum catchment area established. Using the model for comparison in two basins in Tibet (Helongqu and Niyang River White Water), the results show that the critical support flow (Qc) of the housing dragon song is 0.0028 m /s. At the same time, the white water curvature is 0.0085 m /s. Besides, the critical support flow can vary with hydrologic climate conditions, and

4851-425: The side of the stream or within the floodplain will be a good indicator of persistent water regime. A perennial stream can be identified 48 hours after a storm. Direct storm runoff usually has ceased at this point. If a stream is still flowing and contributing inflow is not observed above the channel, the observed water is likely baseflow. Another perennial stream indication is an abundance of red rust material in

4928-462: The south side of the street which runs from the parade before our fort in New York to the Hudson's river, south eighteen degrees thirty minutes west, on a straight line; the distance being one hundred and twenty-five chains [i.e. 8,250 feet (2,510 m) or 1.417 miles (2.280 km)], from which line to run a perpendicular breadth of, and to comprehend four hundred feet [120 metres] from low water mark into Hudson's river. The Land Ordinance of 1796 –

5005-495: The southwest corner of Union Square, the building at the northeast corner of 19th Street and Fifth Avenue, and 66 Fifth Avenue. In 1897, George Everett Hill and George E. Waring Jr. wrote: "Although Minetta Brook has been lost to sight for many years, we have abundant evidence that it still exists. Deep excavations near its course are almost invariably flooded by its waters, and heavy buildings over or beside it require elaborate foundations of piling." Encounters with Minetta Creek in

5082-521: The species fished in it. "All manner of wild fowl" including ducks and geese could be found in the creek. In fact, the filling-in had preceded real-estate speculators' infill operations, according to the British Headquarters Map of c. 1782–1783. At the time, the British carried out extensive defenses of the city, and according to ecologist Eric W. Sanderson , "they dammed Minetta Water to create

5159-518: The twentieth century were based on construction projects that unexpectedly encountered its water underground. In 1900, construction workers for the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (H&M; today the PATH ) had to navigate quicksand formed from the water. Their work was particularly difficult as they could not break the surface of Sixth Avenue, which would have disrupted traffic. The next year, Egbert Ludovicus Viele

5236-655: The vital support flow Qc in wet areas (white water) is larger than in semi-arid regions (heap slot). The proposed critical support flow (CSD) concept and model method can be used to determine the hydrographic indicators of river sources in complex geographical areas, and it can also reflect the impact of hydrologic climate change on river recharge in different regions. The source of a river or stream (its point of origin) can consist of lakes, swamps, springs, or glaciers. A typical river has several tributaries; each of these may be made up of several other smaller tributaries, so that together this stream and all its tributaries are called

5313-512: The water flows off the land as runoff, the proportion of which varies according to many factors, such as wind, humidity, vegetation, rock types, and relief. This runoff starts as a thin film called sheet wash, combined with a network of tiny rills, together constituting sheet runoff; when this water is concentrated in a channel, a stream has its birth. Some creeks may start from ponds or lakes. The streams typically derive most of their water from rain and snow precipitation. Most of this water re-enters

5390-513: The year and is marked on topographic maps with a line of blue dashes and dots. A wash , desert wash, or arroyo is normally a dry streambed in the deserts of the American Southwest , which flows after sufficient rainfall. In Italy, an intermittent stream is termed a torrent ( Italian : torrente ). In full flood the stream may or may not be "torrential" in the dramatic sense of the word, but there will be one or more seasons in which

5467-402: The year. A stream of the first order is a stream which does not have any other recurring or perennial stream feeding into it. When two first-order streams come together, they form a second-order stream. When two second-order streams come together, they form a third-order stream. Streams of lower order joining a higher order stream do not change the order of the higher stream. The gradient of

5544-624: Was again confirmed by a 1916 article. Subsequently, in 1928, the Independent Subway System 's West Fourth Street–Washington Square station (now part of the New York City Subway system) was built under the H&;M tunnels. A reporter for The New York Times indicated that the stream could be seen in the construction site. In 1929, workers at the construction site of Jefferson Market found their worksite filled with water. H. W. Lesh,

5621-492: Was again contacted concerning flooding in a construction project, and again declared the source of water to be Minetta Creek. In 1907, the Degnon Contracting Company was building the H&M Railroad's Uptown Hudson Tubes north of Ninth Street and declared the water to have dried up, to the relief of area property owners who had previously spent thousands of dollars on pumps to rid their properties of water. This

5698-493: Was also referred to by its Dutch name, Bestevaer's Killetje , before the American Revolutionary War . A plaque affixed to the building at Two Fifth Avenue provides one derivation of the "Minetta" name and reads as follows: A brook winds its erratic way beneath this site The Indians called it Manette or Devil 's Water To the Dutch settlers it was Bestevaer's Killetje or Grandfather's Little Creek For

5775-530: Was and is of considerable volume, it has been [a] very important and expensive factor in the construction of the foundations along its line, from its main source, near the site of the Union Club, to its discharge in the North [i.e. Hudson] River." "In 1820 there still was a small colony of muskrats , bordering this creek," Issachar Cozzens recalled in 1843. "The brook passed along the lower end of Potter's Field, and formed

5852-419: Was filled in by the mid-19th century, although it persisted as an underground stream through the 20th century. Ever since the creek was covered in the 19th century, there have been debates over whether the creek still exists. Minetta Creek caused flooding in basements and construction sites from the mid-19th century through the mid-20th century. Pools of water were also found at several construction sites along

5929-497: Was in operation until May 25, 1825, on its eastern bank, and private property to its west. The southernmost part of the creek's course was the estate known as Richmond Hill , originally created by Abraham Mortier in the late 1760s. In 1794, he leased it to Aaron Burr , who altered the course of the creek to form "Burr's Pond" at the foot of his estate. In 1896, Charles Haynes Haswell recalled an observation from eighty years earlier. Minetta Stream had been "fully apparent; and as it

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