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

Population, Resources and Industries:

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Springfield is the metropolitan hub of southwest Missouri.
Except in Greene County, most of the population of southwest
Missouri is rural in nature. A large number of people are drawn
to the study area because of the expanding industries and educa-
tional institutions. Table 1 presents population trends and pro-
jections for Greene and Christian Counties. Income trends are
in Table 2.

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Springfield is the home of four colleges and a state univer-
sity. The college enrollment for 1974 was 5,800 students. South-
west Missouri State University had 10,500 students enrolled in
1974.5

Industry in the area has been increasing since 1950. Manu-
facturing growth in the area is spreading from Springfield into
more rural areas. Table 3 (a & b)contains employment statistics
for the area.6

Since 1957, stone has been the most important mineral com-
modity produced in both tonnage and value of production. Prin-
cipal rock uni ts quarried are the Mississippian Warsaw and Burling-
ton-Keokuk limestones. These limestones are suitable for cement
manfacture.7 Mineral resource data is contained in Table 4.

Land Resources Development and Utilization:

Land use by activity and acreage are shown in Table 5. Sizes
of farms have been steadily increasing, while numbers of farms are
on the decline. Value of farm products and crops harvested is
shown in Tables 6 and 7.

Livestock, particularly cattle, in 1969 was the major income
product of the area. From 1959 to 1969 the number of cattle in-
creased by about 20 percent. Sizeable income is also gerived from
the processing and marketing of agricultural products.

Major streams in the area are sustained during low flow periods
by inflow from natural underground reservoirs in the soluble car-
bonate rocks. Surface streams and groundwater sources in the
study area are interconnected and can be regarded as parts of a
single system, differing mainly in flow rstes. Periodically the
flow patterns of a number of smaller tr~butary streams are inter-
rupted by water losses to bedrock. These streams may disappear
entirely where the rock underlying the stream is very permeable.

The groundwater supply in the area comes from two contrast-
ing environments. Near the surface, groundwater is contained in
a "shallow" aquifer of Mississippian age. A second groundwater
source is a "deep" aquifer of Cambrian-Ordovician age.

The "shallow" aquifer consists of cherty limestones at or
near the surface. This aquifer has been much used in the past

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