CYPEESS CEEEK DRAINAGE DISTEICT, ARKANSAS. 5 



1 W., there is a gap of about 2 miles between the southern end of the 

 Arkansas River levee and the northern end of the Mississippi River 

 levee. It is, of course, impracticable to close this opening without first 

 diverting Cypress Creek. The existence of this gap partially nullifies 

 the benefits from these levees so far as this district and a considerable 

 area to the south are concerned. Figure 2 (in pocket at end of bul- 

 letin) shows the area m Desha County that was submerged by the 

 I^Iississippi River flood of 1912, due to the inflow of water through 

 this opening. This amounts to about 202,000 acres, or approximately 

 two-thirds of the total area of the district. No crevasses occurred in 

 the levees bounding the district during this flood, and but for the 

 existence of the levee gap there probably would have been no damage 

 from the river itself. 



DRAINAGE OUTLETS. 



The small degree of interior drainage now existing is secm-ed through 

 the numerous bayous and creeks which meander through the district 

 (see figs. 3 and 4, in pocket at end of bulletin). The drainage from 

 that portion north of Amos Bayou is discharged into the Mississippi 

 River through Cypress Creek, being collected by a number of tortuous 

 and ill-defined tributaries distributed generally over the area. The 

 drainage tributary to Amos Bayou, as well as that from the entu'e 

 area of the district south of this bayou, is discharged into Macon Lake, 

 whose northern end is located about 3 miles south of the Desha-Chicot 

 County line. 



The bayous are of the usual type encountered in the Delta section, 

 being tortuous, frequent!}- HI defined, and of irregular width. They 

 often widen out into lakehke bodies of practically dead water and 

 again contract into narrow channels. They are usually encumbered 

 with drift and debris of aU sorts, and particularly in their wider 

 portions often contain growths of standing timber and various forms 

 of water-loving vegetation. As these bayous approach the Mississippi 

 River they usually undergo a marked contraction in cross section. 

 This peculiarity is probably due to the backing up of river water 

 in these bayous before the levees were constructed, the resulting 

 obstruction to the current causing the deposition of suspended matter 

 brought down from above. The land immediately adjoining the 

 bayou.s is usually higher than that a short distance back from the 

 strcamH. This condition, characteristic of Mississippi Delta bayous, 

 as of the river itself, is especially marked along Amos and Macon 

 Bayous, whose banks are frequently as much as 6 to 10 feet above 

 the general elevjition of the surrounding area. 



The (existing outlets arc not suflicient to care for the run-off 1 ril)u- 

 tary to th(!m. A moderate winter rain, even when the Mississippi 

 is at normal stage, r-auses the flooding of liii'ge. arens. The high 

 bunks of th(! bayous |)r(!V('nt a (|ui(k icituin of I his water to the chan- 

 nels, and thus the lowlands remain covered with wiilcr for long 



