White River, Black River, & Little Red River, Arkansas & Missouri

Supporting ecosystem health before new impacts

The White River in Arkansas is an important source of hydropower and water supply for the area, and more water resource development projects are being considered. Corps and Conservancy staff are working to determine how much water needs to stay in the river to support wildlife before any new changes take place. Maintaining vibrant river and floodplain ecosystems supports outdoor recreation including boating, hunting and fishing activities, which are important economic generators in the region. Healthy habitats also benefit migrating birds at this stop on the Mississippi Flyway.

Bull Shoals Lake provides a beautiful and quiet getaway.  With over 100,000 acres of land and water combined, this is the place to meet all of your recreation needs!
The White River tail waters of Bull Shoals Lake, is home to one of America’s premier trout streams, famous for producing record breaking rainbow and brown trout.
Set in the scenic Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas and southern Missouri, Bull Shoals Lake has hundreds of miles of lake arms and coves perfect for boating, water sports, swimming, and fishing. Nineteen developed parks around the shoreline provide campgrounds, boat launches, swim areas, and marinas. Sixty thousand acres of public land provide a variety of other opportunities.
To reduce flood damages, our 90 multi-purpose lakes have prevented $53.8 billion in cumulative flood damages
The White River in Arkansas is an important source of hydropower and water supply for the area, and more water resource development projects are being considered. Corps and Conservancy staff are working to determine how much water needs to stay in the river to support wildlife before any new changes take place. Maintaining vibrant river and floodplain ecosystems supports outdoor recreation including boating, hunting and fishing activities, which are important economic generators in the region. Healthy habitats also benefit migrating birds at this stop on the Mississippi Flyway.
Table Rock Dam, near Branson, Missouri is one of the main stem dams on the White River. Other dams include Beaver and Bull Shoals dams in Arkansas, and some of its major tributaries with the primary focus on large water withdraw systems planned to ease irrigation demand on local aquifers.
Beaver Lake was included in the comprehensive plan for flood control and other purposes in the White River Basin by the Flood Control Act of 1954. The White River in Arkansas is an important source of hydropower and water supply for the area, and more water resource development projects are being considered. Corps and Conservancy staff are working to determine how much water needs to stay in the river to support wildlife before any new changes take place. Maintaining vibrant river and floodplain ecosystems supports outdoor recreation including boating, hunting and fishing activities, which are important economic generators in the region. Healthy habitats also benefit migrating birds at this stop on the Mississippi Flyway.

White River

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Story

This project is atypical for the Sustainable Rivers Program. Though the White River has dams on the mainstem (Beaver dam, AR, Table Rock dam, MO, Bull Shoals, AR) and some of its major tributaries (Norfork dam on the Norfork River, AR, Clearwater Lake dam on the Black River, MO, and Greers Ferry Dam on the Little Red River, AR) the primary focus is on large water withdraw systems planed to ease irrigation demand on local aquifers (Alluvial and Sparta). The Grand Prairie Area Demonstration Project is designed to pump water out of the White River and distribute it to farms through out the Grand Prairie via canal network. This project will be capable of pumping 1,640cfs. The project is called a demonstration because there are four additional irrigation projects planed for the White River basin. This amount of consumptive ability will have significant impacts on in stream flows. The more demand put on the river the more important it is to understand when consumption conflicts with the needs of the river and its floodplain. This is an opportunity to define ecosystem flow needs before a new major impact is introduced to the environment. Ecosystem flow needs should be defined in spatially and temporally specific terms. Once quantified, ecosystem flow needs can be compared to the requirements of other water resource (hydropower production, navigation, agriculture, water supply) to formulate ecologically sustainable water management plans that ensure the long-term viability of basin water resources.

 

Authorities

White River Comprehensive Study (WRCS) Water Resources Study, Authorized under Section 729 of WRDA 1986

USACE General Investigations (GI) program.

 

Partners

  • Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
  • Missouri Department of Conservation
  • Arkansas Natural Resources Commission
  • Missouri Department of Natural Resources
  • Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission
  • Arkansas Waterways Commission
  • United States Fish and Wildlife Service
  • United States Geological Survey
 

Resources

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