20 



BULLETIN 198, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



work necessary to keep the ditches in shape will not be very great if 

 it be attended to each year, but if the ditches are not properly main- 

 tained they will deteriorate rapidly and in a few years will require 

 extensive and costly repairs. The officials of the drainage district 

 should provide for regular inspection of all the channels and other 

 construction and arrange to do promptly any maintenance work that 

 may be needed. 



A COMPREHENSIVE DRAINAGE SYSTEM NEEDED. 



Before Desha County can be developed to any considerable extent, 

 efficient drainage must be obtained. The diversion of Cypress Creek 

 and the closure of the gap in the levee will be the first vital step toward 

 that end, but that will not be sufficient. While it would be possible 

 to do that much by making only one diversion channel along the 

 route considered in the plan of the Mississippi River Commission, 

 the work could not be done economically, it would be of practi- 

 cally no value to the major portion of the district except in such 

 extraordinary floods as those of 1912 and 1913, and it would cost 

 much more than the recommended plan in proportion to the bene- 

 fits resulting. The construction of ditches Nos. 13, 18, 19, 43, and 

 81, as described in this report, would not only permit the levee gap 

 to be closed and provide adequate outlet channels for the whole 

 district, but also would permit the immediate improvement of a 

 considerable area along those watercourses. The cost of those five 

 ditches is summarized below : 



Cost of ditches. 



Ditch No. 



Lengtli. 



Cost. 



13 



Mites. 

 14.79 

 16.97 

 76.04 

 36. 89 

 40.20 



8181,300 



68,664 



406,571 



623, 615 



246,614 



18 



19 



43 



81 



Contingent expenses, 



184.89 



1,526.764 

 76,338 



Total 



1,603,102 





While the submains and laterals can be constructed at any time 

 after the mam ditches, the cost will be less if the whole project is 

 carried out at once than if a part is deferred. The construction of 

 these smaller ditches will add only 38 per cent to the cost of the five 

 main ditches just enumerated, and in view of the low total cost, 

 estimated at $7.49 per acre, it is recommended that the construc- 

 tion be continued from the beginning to the completion of the entire 

 system for which the plans have been made. 



o 



