The White River is a 722-mile (1,162 km) river that flows through the U.S. statesofArkansas and Missouri. 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.
Despite being much shorter than the Arkansas River, it carries nearly as much water—normally more than 20,000 cubic feet per second (570 m3/s), and occasionally more than 100,000 cubic feet per second (2,800 m3/s) during periods of flooding.
In the 20th century, large sections of the White River were modified via dam 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 and Lake Taneycomo in southern Missouri, and finally Bull Shoals Lake as the river loops southward into northern Arkansas. Downstream of Bull Shoals Dam, the White River returns to its natural riparian state as it heads southeast through the eastern Ozark-St. Francis National Forest.
In 1910, Congress authorized construction of a hydroelectricdam on the White River by the newly formed Ozark Power and Water Company.[9] Completed in 1913 at a cost of $2.3 million,[9]Powersite Dam near Forsyth, Missouri[10] confined a section of the White River to create Lake Taneycomo. The project brought electricity to a rural area of the Ozark Mountains south of Springfield, Missouri with rural electrification programs in the 1940s expanding service to the surrounding region. Recreation on Taneycomo drew tourism to Rockaway Beach and Branson. 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.[9]
Bull Shoals Dam near Mountain Home, Arkansas was constructed from 1947 to 1951 at a cost of $86 million[12] and is the 5th largest concrete dam in the United States.[13] It confines Bull Shoals Lake, the largest[13] of the lakes on the White River and the most downstream.
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.
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 (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, brown, and cutthroat trout.[16] A number of trout fishing resorts lie on the tailwaters of Bull Shoals Lake and the North Fork River.[17] Fishing for white bass is also popular in these waters.