BULLETIN OF THE 



u 



No. 193 



Contribution from the Of&ce of Experiment Stations, A. C. True, Director 

 April 30, 1915. 



(PROFESSIONAL PAPER.) 



THE DRAINAGE OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS. 



By H. A. Krpp, A. G. Hall, and S. W. Frescoln, Drainage Engineers.' 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Introduction 1 



General description of county 2 



The survey 7 



The drainage problem 8 



Run-oft 10 



Page. 



Proposed plan of drainage 13 



Estimate of cost 24 



Conclusion 32 



Appendix: Ditch sizes and earthworks 33 



INTRODUCTION. 



The drainage of Jefferson County, like the drainage of all other 

 counties along the Texas Gulf coast, has been generally recognized 

 in recent years as one of the most important steps in the agricultural 

 development and settlement of this comparatively new country. 

 Seyeral attempts have been made to organize drainage districts 

 within the county under the Texas drainage law and to start actual 

 construction of some drainage canals to relieve the land of the surplus 

 water, but up to the present time construction has been carried out 

 in only one district. Outside of that district few canals have been 

 constructed, and the conditions throughout the county generally have 

 not been improved. 



In January, 1012, the Chamber of Commerce of Beaumont requested 

 the aasistance of Drainage Inv(;stigations, Office of Experiment Sta- 

 tions, Unit{;d States Department of Agriculture, in making drainage 

 plans and estimates for Jefferson County. On February 15 the county 

 commissioners' court adopted resolutions agreeing that if Drainage 

 Investigations would make th(5 necessary survey and ])reparo a drain- 

 age plan the county would bear one-half the cost. The survey and 



Note.— Thfa report is Intended especially for engineers, drainage district oflicials, and present and pros- 

 pective owners of land near the Oulf of Mexico, particularly in Texas and Louisiana. The run-off formula 

 and discus-sion will int<:r(»t all ongino<!r.s concemo'l with land drainage. 

 78948°— bull. rj.-J-15 1 



