The White River is a

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

tributary that flows through the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

s of

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

and

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

. The name stems from the water's white-gray color, a function of eroded sand, clay, and volcanic ash carried by the river from its source near the

Badlands Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, ...

. Draining a basin of about , about of which is in South Dakota, the stream flows through a region of sparsely populated hills, plateaus, and

badland Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes ...

s. The White River rises in northwestern Nebraska, in the Pine Ridge

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

north of Harrison, at an elevation of above sea level. It flows southeast then northeast past

Fort Robinson Fort Robinson is a former United States Army, U.S. Army fort and now a major feature of Fort Robinson State Park, a public recreation and historic preservation area located west of Crawford, Nebraska, Crawford on U.S. Route 20 in the Pine Ri ...

and north of Crawford. It crosses into southwestern South Dakota and flows north across the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, then northeast, receiving Wounded Knee Creek and flowing between units of

Badlands National Park Badlands National Park () is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in southwestern South Dakota. The park protects of sharply Erosion, eroded buttes and Pinnacle (geology), pinnacles, along with the l ...

. It flows east-northeast and southeast at the northern edge of the reservation, forming the northern boundary of the reservation and the southern boundary of

Buffalo Gap National Grassland Buffalo Gap National Grassland is a National Grassland located primarily in southwestern South Dakota, United States. It is also the second largest National Grassland, after Little Missouri National Grassland in North Dakota. Characteristics o ...

. It receives the Little White River about south of Murdo, and flows east to join the Missouri in Lake Francis Case about southwest of Chamberlain. The river sometimes has no surface flow due to the dry climate surrounding its badlands and prairie basin, though thunderstorms can cause brief intense flow. The river near Chamberlain flows year-round. As of 2001, the White River had generally good-quality water.

Industrial use

As of November 2019,

TC Energy TC Energy Corporation (formerly TransCanada Corporation) is a major North American energy company, based in the TC Energy Tower building in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, that develops and operates energy infrastructure in Canada, the United States, ...

was applying for permits in the state to tap the White River to use water for the construction of Phase 4 of the

Keystone pipeline The Keystone Pipeline System is an Pipeline transport, oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, commissioned in 2010, formerly owned by TC Energy. It is now owned by South Bow, following TC Energy's spin off of its liquids business i ...

, including camp construction to house transient construction workers.

References

Works cited

*Benke, Arthur C., ed., and Cushing, Colbert E., ed.; Galat, David L.; Berry, Charles R., Jr.; Peters, Edward J., and White, Robert G. (2005). "Chapter 10: Missouri River Basin" in ''Rivers of North America''. Burlington, Massachusetts: Elsevier Academic Press. . {{Authority control Rivers of Nebraska Rivers of South Dakota Tributaries of the Missouri River Rivers of Dawes County, Nebraska Rivers of Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota Rivers of Pennington County, South Dakota Rivers of Jackson County, South Dakota Rivers of Jones County, South Dakota Rivers of Mellette County, South Dakota Rivers of Tripp County, South Dakota Rivers of Lyman County, South Dakota *

Industrial use

See also

References

Works cited