The Spring River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed May 31, 2011 waterway located in southwestern

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, southeastern

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, and northeastern

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. The headwaters of Spring River arise in northern Barry County south of

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

at (. The stream flows north into Lawrence County and passes under

US Route 60 U.S. Route 60 is a major east–west United States highway, traveling from southwestern Arizona to the Atlantic Ocean coast in Virginia. The highway's eastern terminus is in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where it is known as Pacific Avenue, in the ...

. The stream meanders through the west side of Verona and passes under

I-44 Interstate 44 (I-44) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. Although it is nominally an east–west road as it is even-numbered, it follows a more southwest–northeast alignment. Its western terminus is in Wichita Fal ...

southwest of

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

. The stream continues west into Jasper County and passes through the north side of

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

and under

US Route 71 U.S. Route 71 or U.S. Highway 71 (US 71) is a major north–south United States highway that extends for over 1500 miles (2500 km) in the central United States. This original 1926 route has remained largely unchanged by encroaching Intersta ...

. It meanders to the northwest and enters

Cherokee County, Kansas Cherokee County (county code CK) is a U.S. county located in Southeast Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 19,362. Its county seat is Columbus, and its most populous city is Baxter Springs. The latter became the first "cow ...

just west of Carl Junction. It flows past the east sides of Riverton and Baxter Springs then enters northeast

. It passes under I-44 again southeast of

Quapaw The Quapaw ( ; or Arkansas and Ugahxpa) people are a tribe of Native Americans that coalesced in what is known as the Midwest and Ohio Valley of the present-day United States. The Dhegiha Siouan-speaking tribe historically migrated from the Ohi ...

and enters the

Neosho River The Neosho River is a tributary of the Arkansas River in eastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma in the United States. Its tributaries also drain portions of Missouri and Arkansas. The river is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National ...

at the north end of the

Grand Lake of the Cherokees Grand Lake o' the Cherokees is situated in Northeast Oklahoma in the foothills of the Ozark Mountain Range. It is often simply called Grand Lake. It is administered by the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA). History The ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma ...

west of Wyandotte.

History

The Spring River takes its name from the many seeps and springs that provide its

baseflow Baseflow (also called drought flow, groundwater recession flow, low flow, low-water flow, low-water discharge and sustained or fair-weather runoff) is the portion of the streamflow that is sustained between precipitation events, fed to streams by d ...

. Big Spring in Lawrence County is the largest spring in the Spring River basin, discharging 12.3 million gallons of water per day. The spring flows from the base of a high bluff of Burlington Keokuk limestone known as Baptist Hill, and enters the Spring River about 200 feet away. The river forms the western boundary of the

Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant port ...

in southwest Missouri and southeast Kansas. All of the

Ozark The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant portio ...

area in southeast Kansas is contained within the Spring River basin. The river was important to Native American tribes and later European-American settlers in

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

and Jasper County, especially around

, where it was not yet too wide to dam. Scores of

grist Grist is grain that has been separated from its chaff in preparation for grinding. It can also mean grain that has been ground at a gristmill. Its etymology derives from the verb ''grind.'' Grist can be ground into meal or flour, depending on ho ...

and

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

s were established on the river in those counties beginning as early as the 1840s. A dam erected northeast of Carthage in 1875 provided water power to mills and other industry through a mile-long

millrace A mill race, millrace or millrun, mill lade (Scotland) or mill leat (Southwest England) is the current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel (sluice) conducting water to or from a water wheel. Compared with the broad waters of a mi ...

, which fed into an industrial basin on north Main street. The concentration of industry there continues to affect the water quality in the river.Redden, Susan
Plan to focus on health of Spring River watershed
The Joplin Globe. April 21, 2009.Spellman, Derek

, ''The Joplin Globe'', July 16, 2009. Spring River was one of the "Seven Bulls," a term used by Native American tribes to describe the rivers of southwest Missouri. At

, the river has a mean annual discharge of .

Ecology

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks currently has a health advisory against the consumption of fish, shellfish and aquatic wildlife of Spring River from the confluence of Center Creek to the Kansas/Oklahoma border in

due to

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and

cadmium Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of ...

contamination. Effluents from sewage treatment facilities enter streams at several locations. Numerous industries, mines, subdivisions, and mobile home parks, all have permits to discharge treated wastes into Spring River watershed. Potential sources of non-point source pollution in the basin include: runoff from

mine tailings In mining, tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different to overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overl ...

and active mining sites, dairy operations, poultry husbandry, sedimentation from erosion in disturbed watersheds, sludge application from sewage treatment facilities, seepage from septic tanks, and runoff from urban areas. A health advisory, recommending against the consumption of fish from the Spring River from

Verona, Missouri Verona is a city in Lawrence County, Missouri, United States. The population was 619 at the 2010 census, later estimated to be 826 as of July 1, 2020. History A post office called Verona has been in operation since 1857. The town site was platt ...

Hoberg, Missouri Hoberg is a village in Lawrence County, Missouri, Lawrence County, Missouri, United States. The population was 48 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History A post office called Hoberg was established in 1905, and remained in operati ...

because of dioxin contamination from runoff at a manufacturing plant, was issued during the late 1980s, but was lifted in 1993. Eighty-six fish species and thirty-five mussel species have been collected in the Spring River basin. Common sportfish include smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, spotted bass, white crappie, rock bass and channel catfish. There are several state or federally listed threatened and endangered species, including the

Ozark cavefish The Ozark cavefish, ''Amblyopsis rosae'', is a small subterranean freshwater fish endemic to the United States. It has been listed as a threatened species in the US since 1984; the IUCN currently lists the species as Near Threatened, though thi ...

, Neosho madtom, redfin darter,

Arkansas darter The Arkansas darter (''Etheostoma cragini'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It is endemic to the Un ...

, western fanshell,

Neosho mucket ''Lampsilis rafinesqueana'', the Neosho mucket or Neosho pearly mussel, is a species of North American freshwater mussel endemic to Arkansas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri and Kansas. Description The Neosho mucket was first described by Frierson ...

, bluntface shiner, and western slim minnow.http://mdc.mo.gov/landwater-care/stream-and-watershed-management/missouri-watersheds/spring-river-southwest-missouri , Missouri Department of Conservation

References

External links

*
Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
{{authority control Rivers of Missouri Rivers of Kansas Rivers of Oklahoma Bodies of water of the Ozarks Tributaries of the Arkansas River Rivers of Barry County, Missouri Rivers of Lawrence County, Missouri Rivers of Jasper County, Missouri Bodies of water of Cherokee County, Kansas Rivers of Ottawa County, Oklahoma

History

Ecology

See also

References

External links