20 
BULLETIN 198, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
work necessary tc 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 Xo. 
Length. 
Cost. 
13 
Miles. 
14.79 
16.97 
76.04 
36.89 
40.20 
$181, 300 
68,664 
406, 571 
623, 615 
246, 614 
18 
19 
43 
81 
Contingent expense?, 
184. 89 
1,526.764 
76,338 
Total 
1,603,102 
While the submains and laterals can be constructed at any time 
after the main 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 
