By Wally Kennedy

wkennedy@joplinglobe.com

MONETT, Mo. — Seth Johnson has a small farm a few miles east of Granby on Newtonia Branch, a tributary to Shoal Creek.

He intentionally built his home on high ground.

He’s glad he did. There’s a good chance his farm could be lakefront property in the future if Shoal Creek is dammed to construct a reservoir for Southwest Missouri.

But Johnson laughs at the notion.

“You never know how these things will work out,” said the schoolteacher at East Newton High School High in Granby, while looking at a map that depicts a reservoir near where Shoal Creek flows under Highway 60 between Monett and Neosho.

Johnson, who said there are several 200- and 300-acre farms in the area of his farm, said he understands that water will be needed in the future.

“Sometimes these things can hurt you, and sometimes they can help you,” he said. “One thing is certain, there’s water here. There’s a spring right over there that runs all the time. This whole valley has a big water basin running through it.”

On Tuesday, the Tri-State Water Resource Coalition revealed the results of a study by Freese and Nichols, a Fort Worth, Texas, engineering firm, that suggests a site along Shoal Creek in Newton County might be suitable for a reservoir. It was among 14 possible reservoir sites in Southwest Missouri.

The study, funded with $100,000 from the coalition and $100,000 from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, was unveiled in Monett South Park. About 75 people attended the press conference. The city of Monett served as the official municipal conduit so that state money could be used in the study.

Other reservoir studies in the past have looked at Shoal Creek as a possible site for a reservoir, but farther upstream in the Pioneer area. The Shoal Creek site is not without its drawbacks. Chief among them is its proximity to a Kansas City Southern Railroad line that would need to be moved to accommodate the reservoir. The relocation of the railroad could prove to be too costly.

Another site identified as a strong potential for a reservoir was a portion of Indian Creek a few miles east of Highway 71 in McDonald County. The third most cost-efficient site was on Crane Creek, a tributary to the James River in Stone County. It would be an off-stream reservoir.

John Rutledge, spokesman for Freese and Nichols, said the study determined that the construction of one reservoir to serve all of Southwest Missouri was impractical and far more costly than building two reservoirs.

“The difference is about $200 million,” he said. “One large reservoir (known as Site 10 on the James River) would cost $600 million. The other reservoirs would cost about $200 million each.”