Grand River (Missouri)

Water type: River
Continent: North America
Climate: Continental

The Grand River is a river that stretches from northernmost tributary origins between Creston and Winterset in Iowa approximately 226 miles (364 km) to its mouth on the Missouri River near Brunswick, Missouri.

Its watershed of 7,900 square miles (20,000 km2), with three-quarters in Missouri, makes it the largest watershed serving the Missouri River in northern Missouri.

The West and East Forks of the Grand rise just south of Creston in Union County, Iowa. The Middle Fork rises at Mount Ayr, Iowa in Ringgold County, Iowa. The three forks merge just south of Albany, Missouri in Gentry County. That is where the river officially assumes the single Grand River name.

The biggest confluence of streams is at Chillicothe, where the Thompson River and Shoal, Medicine, and Locust creeks merge with the river. The Grand River Basin has more than 1,000 third order or higher streams. Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge is on the Yellow Creek tributary at Sumner, Missouri.

No dams have been built on the river. At various times plans have been proposed for five dams, with the most prominent being the Pattonsburg Dam at Pattonsburg, Missouri. The United States Corps of Engineers bought out the residents after the Great Flood of 1993; but, the proposed dam has not been authorized.

Average discharge for the Grand at Sumner, Missouri is 3,917 cubic feet per second (111 m3/s). The maximum instantaneous peak flow of 180,000 cu ft/s (5,100 m3/s) occurred in June, 1947. During the 1993 flood 150,000 cu ft/s (4,200 m3/s) was reported at Sumner.

The Grand descends at a rate of about three feet per mile (0.5 m/km), although the Pop’s Branch near Princeton, Missouri descends at 44 feet per mile (8 m/km).

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