Osage River

Osage River
Map of the Osage River watershed showing the Niangua River
Location
CountryUnited States
StateMissouri
Kansas
RegionOsage Plains, Ozarks
CityWarsaw, Lake Ozark, Tuscumbia, St. Thomas
Physical characteristics
Source confluence 
 • locationVernon County, Missouri
 • coordinates38°01′39″N 94°14′39″W / 38.02750°N 94.24417°W / 38.02750; -94.24417
 • elevation722 ft (220 m)
MouthMissouri River
 • location
Bonnots Mill, Missouri
 • coordinates
38°35′49″N 91°56′43″W / 38.59694°N 91.94528°W / 38.59694; -91.94528[1]
 • elevation
518 ft (158 m)
Length276 mi (444 km)
Basin size15,300 sq mi (40,000 km2)
Discharge 
 • locationnear St. Thomas, MO
 • average10,879 cu ft/s (308.1 m3/s)
 • minimum640 cu ft/s (18 m3/s)
 • maximum216,000 cu ft/s (6,100 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftMarais des Cygnes River,
South Grand River
 • rightLittle Osage River, Clear Creek, Sac River,
Pomme de Terre River, Niangua River
WatershedsOsage-Missouri-Mississippi

The Osage River is a 276-mile-long (444 km)[2] tributary of the Missouri River in central Missouri in the United States. The eighth-largest river in the state, it drains a mostly rural area of 15,300 square miles (40,000 km2). The watershed includes an area of east-central Kansas and a large portion of west-central and central Missouri, where it drains northwest areas of the Ozark Plateau.

The river flows generally easterly, then northeasterly for the final 80 miles (130 km) where it joins the Missouri River. It is impounded in two major locations. Most of the river has been converted into a chain of two reservoirs, the Harry S. Truman Reservoir and the Lake of the Ozarks.

  1. ^ "Osage River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  2. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived March 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, accessed May 31, 2011