570 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



major activity with rice, cotton, and sugarcane 

 as principal crops. Oil fields and sugar processing 

 plants are scattered outside the floodway area. 

 Principal cities are Crowley, Lafayette, and New- 

 Iberia. Water resources ai-e used for iriigating 

 rice, for navigation, and sport and commercial 

 fishing. Caillou, Atchafalaya, and Vermillion 

 Bays are fished extensively for shrimp. Coastal 

 swamps are used for hunting, muskrat trapping, 

 and wildfowl refuges. 



Twelve municipalities have sewerage systems 

 that serve almost 80,000 persons. Nine have ade- 

 quate sewage disposal facilities, Jennings with 

 7,300 persons has none, and the facilities at the 

 following are either inadequate or poorly operated : 



Sewered 



Municipality: popalaihu 



Abbeville 9, 000 



Jeaiierette _... 4, 000 



Industrial waste pollution is caused principally 

 by sugar plant wastes and oil field brines. Large 

 quantities of organic matter are discharged during 

 the harvest season from 22 cane sugar mills that 

 have a combined daily capacity of .31,000 tons of 

 sugar. More than 11,000 barrels of brine wastes 

 per day result from oil field operations. Although 

 65 to 70 percent of the salt brines are disposed of 

 adequately by reinjection, appreciable quantities 

 still enter surface waters. 



No shellfish areas are closed to commercial 

 fishing because of sewage pollution. During the 

 sugar season local nuisances result from sugar mill 

 wastes. In the past, brine wastes have interfererl 

 with the use of rice irrigation water, but at the 

 present time, orders issued by the Stream Control 

 Commission forbid deposition of brines into irri- 

 gation watei's during certain times of the year. 



CALCASIEU RIVER AREA (15) 



The Calcasieu River Area includes the lower 

 50 miles of the narrow Calcasieu Basin. It fronts 

 on the Gulf between Grand Chenier and Johnson's 

 Bayou. The area is important for production of 

 rice and a number of minor crops, has about 20 

 oil fields, and industrial activities that include 

 petroleum processing, ginning cotton, production 

 of pulp and paper, and food processing. Lake 

 Charles is tlie principal city. Uses of fresh 

 water include rice irrigation, industrial use by 

 oil refineries and paper mills, and navigation 

 below Lake Chark»s. Muskrat trapping and 



farming are important in marshes south of Lake 

 Charles. Shrimp and fish are taken from the 

 offshore waters. 



Lake Charles, with a sewered population of 

 54,000, and Maplewood with 2,500, have municipal 

 sewage treatment facilities. One small com- 

 munity that is located some distance inland has 

 inadequate facilities, and Oakdale, also inland, 

 discharges untreated municipal sewage. The 

 Lower Calcasieu River is also subject to consider- 

 able pollution from ship traffic and from periodic 

 flooding of land areas at the small communities of 

 Cameron and Hackberry w'here pit privies are 

 common. Principal industrial wastes come from 

 oil fields, two oil refineries, two chemical plants, 

 and a fish meal company. 



Because of sewage pollution, the entire Calcasieu 

 River and its tributaries ai-e closed to commercial 

 shellfishing. During periods of low flow, wastes 

 from oil refineries and other industries have 

 caused oxygen depletion in parts of the Calcasieu 

 River. 



SABINE RIVER AREA (16) 



The area includes parts of Louisiana and 

 Texas in the Sabine River drainage basin, the 

 eastern half of Sabine Lake and its pass to the 

 Gulf. The largest city is Orange, Texas. Cattle 

 and rice are principal agricultural products. 

 Oil wells are numerous. Industrial processing 

 includes petroleum, chemicals, and food. Fresh 

 water is used extensively for rice irrigation, indus- 

 trial water supplies, and navigation. Fish and 

 shrimp are taken from the offshore waters. 



Sewered municipalities are Orange, Newton, 

 and Kirbyville, Texas. Their sewer systems 

 serve 25,000 persons. The existing facilities at 

 these municipalities have adequate capacity. 

 Considerable pollution comes from oil-well brines 

 and sediment loads from erosion. 



The Sabine and Ncclies Rivei-s together carry 

 an annual silt load of about 7 million tons into 

 Sabine Lake. During the past 75 years, ocean- 

 going shipping on the lake has become restricted 

 to the confined channel of the Intercoastal Water- 

 way which is maintained by dredging. Oyster 

 reefs in Sabine Lake w(>re destroyed long ago by 



siltation. 



NECHES RIVER AREA (17) 



The Neches River Area includes the drainages 

 fiom Silsbee downstieam and extends along the 



