White River (Arkansas–Missouri)


The White River is a long river that flows through the U.S. states of Arkansas and Missouri. Originating in the Boston Mountains of northwest Arkansas, it flows northwards into southern Missouri, and then turns back into Arkansas, flowing southeast to its mouth at the Mississippi River.

Course

The source of the White River is in the Boston Mountains of northwest Arkansas, in the Ozark–St. Francis National Forest southeast of Fayetteville. The river flows northwards from its source in northwest Arkansas, loops up through southwest Missouri through Branson, Missouri. In Branson the river forms Lake Taneycomo, where it is held back by the Powersite Dam. The Powersite was the first dam on the White River. The flow into this comes from Table Rock Lake, and down stream it flows into Bull Shoals Lake, from where it travels back into Arkansas, and then heads generally southeast to its mouth at the Mississippi River.
On entering the Mississippi River Valley region near Batesville, Arkansas, the river becomes navigable to shallow-draft vessels, and its speed decreases considerably. The final of the river 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.
Despite being much shorter than the Arkansas River, it carries nearly as much water—normally more than, and occasionally more than during floods.

River modifications

was created in 1913 when the Empire District Electric Company built a dam just south of Forsyth, Missouri. Beaver Lake, Bull Shoals Lake, and Table Rock Lake are man-made lakes or reservoirs created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the authority of the Flood Control Act of 1938. A total of eight dams impound the upper White River, six in Arkansas and two in Missouri. The White River National Wildlife Refuge lies along the lower part of the river.

Tributaries

The tributaries of the White River include Cache River, Bayou des Arc, Little Red River, Black River, North Fork River, Crooked Creek, Buffalo River, Kings River, James River, and Roaring River. Some cities that lie on the White River are Newport, Augusta, Calico Rock, and Batesville, all in Arkansas, as well as Branson and Hollister in Missouri.

Angling

Fishing for trout is popular in the upper portions of the river from the Beaver Lake tailwaters in northwestern Arkansas, through its course through southwest Missouri, 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, brown, 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 is also popular in these waters.