The Osage River enters the Missouri River just southeast of the state capital at Jefferson City. At one time the Osage was seen as a commercial river corridor into the north central Ozark region of Missouri. Due to its unpredictable and inconsistent flow, attempts to add a system of locks and dams were eventually abandoned after only Lock number 1 was put into use. Large sections of the river were eventually impounded for hydro-electric production at Bagnell Dam creating the Lake of the Ozarks and then again for flood control purposes with Harry S Truman Dam and Reservoir.