The White River is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

that flows through the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

s of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

and

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 ...

. Originating in the Boston Mountains of northwest Arkansas, it arcs northwards through southern Missouri before turning back into Arkansas, flowing southeast to its mouth at the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

Hydrography

Course

The source of the White River is in the Boston Mountains of northwest

, in the

Ozark–St. Francis National Forest The Ozark – St. Francis National Forest is a United States National Forest that is located in the U.S. state, state of Arkansas. It is composed of two separate forests, Ozark National Forest in the Ozark Mountains; and St. Francis National Fore ...

southeast of Fayetteville. The river flows northwards from its source to loop through southwest

before heading southeast through Arkansas to its mouth on the

. On entering the

Mississippi River Valley The Mississippi embayment is a physiographic feature in the south-central United States, part of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. It is essentially a northward continuation of the fluvial sediments of the Mississippi River Delta to its conflue ...

region near

Batesville, Arkansas Batesville is the county seat and largest city of Independence County, Arkansas, United States, 80 miles (183 km) northeast of Little Rock, the state capital. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the city was 10,268. The city serve ...

, the river becomes navigable to shallow-draft vessels, and its speed decreases considerably. The final serves as the last segment of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System; this part of the channel is deeper than the rest of the river.

Discharge

Despite being much shorter than the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

, it carries nearly as much water—normally more than , and occasionally more than during periods of flooding.

Flood Management & Reservoir Creation

In the 20th century, large sections of the White River were modified via

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

construction to form a series of artificial reservoirs for the purpose of flood control, as well as hydroelectric power generation, water distribution and management, and recreation. The first of these encountered from the headwaters is Beaver Lake in northwest Arkansas, followed by

Table Rock Lake Table Rock Lake is an artificial lake or reservoir in the Ozarks of southwestern Missouri and northwestern Arkansas in the United States. Designed, built and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the lake is impounded by Table Rock Dam ...

and

Lake Taneycomo Lake Taneycomo is a man-made lake or reservoir on the White River in the Ozark Mountains of Taney County, Missouri. The reservoir's name is a portmanteau for the county and state in which it is located: ''Taney Co''unty, ''MO''. Lake Taneyco ...

in southern Missouri, and finally

Bull Shoals Lake Bull Shoals Lake is an artificial lake or reservoir in the Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas and southern Missouri. It has hundreds of miles of lake arms and coves, and common activities include boating, water sports, swimming, and fishing. Nin ...

as the river loops southward into northern Arkansas. Downstream of

Bull Shoals Dam Bull Shoals Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the White River in northern Arkansas in the United States. The dam lies on the border of Marion and Baxter Counties, and forms Bull Shoals Lake, which extends well northwest into Missouri. Its main p ...

, the White River returns to its natural riparian state as it heads southeast through the eastern Ozark-St. Francis National Forest.

Ozark Power and Water Company

In 1910, Congress authorized construction of a

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

on the White River by the newly formed Ozark Power and Water Company.White River Valley Historical Quarterly.
Powersite Dam
. ''The Library dot org''. Retrieved 1 August 2016. Completed in 1913 at a cost of $2.3 million,

Powersite Dam Powersite Dam is a hydroelectric dam that went into service in 1913 in Forsyth, Missouri. It is found along the White River, and the reservoir it forms is Lake Taneycomo. It was the first hydroelectric dam built in Missouri. Designed in 1911 ...

near

Forsyth, Missouri Forsyth is a city in Taney County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,730 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Taney County. The town is part of the Branson, Missouri Micropolitan Statistical Area. Forsyth is located on Lake T ...

confined a section of the White River to create

. The project brought electricity to a rural area of the

Ozark Mountains 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 ...

south of

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

with rural electrification programs in the 1940s expanding service to the surrounding region. Recreation on Taneycomo drew tourism to Rockaway Beach and

Branson Branson may refer to: Places ;Canada * Branson, Toronto ;United States * Branson, Missouri, a popular tourist destination in the Ozark Mountains * Branson, Colorado * Branson City, California * The Branson School, in Ross, California * Warrenpoi ...

. The Ozark Power and Electric Company operated independently until 1927 when it merged with Empire District Electric Company in 1927, who own and operate Powersite to this day.

Army Corps of Engineers

Beaver Lake,

, and

are man-made lakes or

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

s created by the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

under the authority of the

Flood Control Act of 1938 The Flood Control Act of 1938 was an Act of the United States Congress signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that authorized civil engineering projects such as dams, levees, dikes, and other flood control measures through the Un ...

near Mountain Home, Arkansas was constructed from 1947 to 1951 at a cost of $86 million and is the 5th largest concrete dam in the United States. It confines

, the largest of the lakes on the White River and the most downstream. The next to be constructed was Table Rock Dam near

Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County. Branson is in the Ozark Mountains. The community was named after Reuben Branson, postma ...

, completed in 1958 at a cost of $65 million. It confines

, the second largest on the White and a popular tourist destination as part of the Branson area.

Beaver Dam A beaver dam or beaver impoundment is a dam built by beavers to create a pond which protects against predators such as coyotes, wolves and bears, and holds their food during winter. These structures modify the natural environment in such a way t ...

near

Eureka Springs, Arkansas Eureka Springs is a city in Carroll County, Arkansas, United States, and one of two county seats for the county. It is located in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas, near the border with Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the city populati ...

was built between 1960 and 1966 for $46 million. It confines Beaver Lake, the most upstream dam and reservoir on the river. A total of eight dams impound the upper White River, six in Arkansas and two in Missouri. The

White River National Wildlife Refuge The White River National Wildlife Refuge (officially Dale Bumpers White River National Wildlife Refuge) is a wildlife refuge located in Desha, Monroe, Phillips, and Arkansas counties in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The refuge is managed by the ...

lies along the lower part of the river.

Major Tributaries

The tributaries of the White River include Cache River, Bayou des Arc, Little Red River, Black River, North Fork River,

Crooked Creek Crooked Creek may refer to: Streams In Australia * Crooked Creek (Clyde River), a tributary of the Clyde River in New South Wales * Crooked Creek (Walsh River), a tributary of the Walsh River in Queensland In the United States * Crooked Cree ...

, Buffalo River, Kings River, James River, and Roaring River.

Settlements

Arkansas

* Augusta * Batesville * Calico Rock * Newport

Missouri

* Hollister * Rockaway Beach

Angling

Fishing for

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

is popular in the upper portions of the river from the Beaver Lake tailwaters in northwestern Arkansas, through its course through southwest Missouri (including all of Lake Taneycomo), and back down through Arkansas to the Highway 58 bridge in Guion. The river has long been ranked one of the top trout fisheries in the country. Fishing is popular in these waters for a number of trout species including

rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...

, and cutthroat trout. A number of trout fishing resorts lie on the tailwaters of Bull Shoals Lake and the North Fork River. Fishing for

white bass The white bass, silver bass, or sand bass (''Morone chrysops'') is a freshwater fish of the temperate bass family Moronidae. commonly around 12-15 inches long. The species' main color is silver-white to pale green. Its back is dark, with white ...

is also popular in these waters.

References

External links