WSP01088

• File Number: 8112.600
• Description: Arkansas White Red Basins Interagency Committee - AWRBIAC -- Reports
• Basin: Arkansas
• Water Division: 2
• Date: 6/1/1977
• Title: Specific Problem Analysis Summary Report - 1975 National Assessment of Water and Related Land Resources - Part 2 of 2
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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portion of the area fla~tena in upland farm land. The central por-
tion of the area ia atre,m with tailing piles and flooded shafts
of abandoned lead and zinc mines. The known economically mined
ore deposi~s from the relatively shallow mines have apparently
been exhaus ted.

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Urban growth is concentrated in the greater Joplin-Webb City-
Carterville area and in the smaller Carthage and Neosho-Granby
areas. The nearest metropolitan areas are Springfield, Missouri,
70 miles to the east; Kansas City, Missouri, 160 miles to the
north; Wichita, Kansas; 200 miles to the west; and Tulsa, Oklahoma,
110 miles to the southwest.

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The area is served by three main line single track railroads,
two feeder airlines, one interstate highway and three U. S.
highways.

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The area has seen boom and bust economy in the rise and fall
of the mining industry and the more recent and ,shorter-l ived Fort
Crowder military operation. It appears that present industrializa-
tion will provide a more dependable rise in economic level with
agriculture providing a lesser but stable economic base.l

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The Southwest Missouri region is characterized by seasonal
changes in climate. The area enjoys a "plateau climate.." ,Pre-
vailing winds are from the south, south~est and usually blow
with a velocity of 8-10 miles per hour. " ,

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The average annual temperature is 56 degrees. ,The,coldest
month is Janu,ry 01 degrees) and the warmest month, is July
(79 degrees).

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The total annual average precipitation is 41.08 inches of
rainfall including 13.0 inches of snow. 4The wettest month is
March with 5.28 inches of precipitation.

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The average growing season is 192 days. The first killing
frost usually occurs about October 23rd and the last killing frost
in the spring is around April l4th.5

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The area has had numerous tornadoes. Joplin was hit in
successive years with damages in excess of 20 million dollar~.6

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The Newton-Jasper County area population peaked about 1910
as a result of the lead and ~inc mine operations and lost about,
fourteen percent of its population by 1920. In the forty years
since 1920, population growth haa totaled only about eight per-
cent as compared to a state population growth of about twenty-
seven percent Over the same period.7 Of the 108,956 persons
reported in the area by the 1960 census, 79,131, or about

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97

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