14 BULLETI]Sr 193, V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTIJEE. 



running generally with the greatest slope of the land, reachmg to the 

 boundaries of each district. 



The plan proposed for the remainder of the county consists in (1) 

 dividing it into convenient pumping districts; (2) straightening and 

 deepening certain watercourses and constructing the proposed Inter- 

 coastal Canal, all of which -v^ill serve as outlets for the pump dis- 

 charges; (3) building levees to prevent the overflow of those districts 

 by tides, backwater from the river, or run-off from higher lands ; (4) 

 constructing systems of parallel ditches spaced 1 mile apart and 

 reaching to all parts of each district; and (5) erecting pumping plants 

 to lift the water from such inclosures over the protection levees. 

 Spacing the lateral ditches 1 mile apart in each of the pumping dis- 

 tricts will give ample relief for the present needs of the county, but 

 it must be borne in mind that when those areas are put under culti- 

 vation additional ditches must be constructed. The number of 

 lateral ditches should then be doubled, makmg them one-half mile 

 apart. They should be fed by small collecting ditches or field 

 laterals perpendicular to the larger ditches. It may be found prac- 

 ticable to use tUe drains instead of open field ditches. In many 

 newly reclaimed tracts in Louisiana these field laterals are made 4 

 feet deep, 4 feet wide at the top, 1 J feet wide at the bottom, and are 

 spaced 165 or 330 feet apart to divide the land into 10-acre or 20-acre 

 plats between the larger ditches. Pine Island Bayou and Taylors 

 Bayou should be improved as outlined on later pages. The work on 

 each stream will benefit several units, and the cost should be appor- 

 tioned according to the benefits to be received. The entire south end 

 of Hardin County and a large area in Liberty County will receive 

 direct benefit from the improvement of Pine Island Bayou, but since 

 the present State drainage law makes no provision for cooperation 

 between counties in doing such work it is proposed that no more 

 work be done on that watercourse than will be necessary to meet 

 the needs of Jefferson County. All the drainage units drained into 

 Taylors Bayou will be benefited by the improvement of that stream 

 below the mouth of Mayhaw Bayou near the limit of tidewater. 



DRAINAGE UNITS. 



GRAVITY DISTRICTS. 



The gravity drainage districts are Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 15, 20, 

 25, and 28. The district boundaries follow approximately the nat- 

 ural divides between adjoining drainage basins. Since the whole 

 north end of the county, except a narrow strip along Pine Island 

 Bayou and the Neches River marshes, is drained into Taylors Bayou, 

 and a vast area in the south half of the county is drained ultimately 

 into the same bayou, all of this might be combined into one great 



