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TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMEPTI BOARDREPORT 25BASE-FLOW STUDIESLITTLE CYPRESS CREEKUPSHUR, GREGG, AND HARRISON COUNTIES, TEXASQ u a n t i t y and Q u a l i t y , J a n u a r y and J u n e 1964J. T. Smith, J . H. Montgomery, and J . F. BlakeyUnited S t a t e s Geological SurveyPrepared by t h e U:S. Geological Surveyi n cooperation w i t h theTexas Water Development BoardAugust 1966

TABLE OF CONTENTSPage.FEATURES .INTRODUCTION1WATERSHED2.General Geomorphology .GEOHYDROLOGY .Geologic S t r u c t u r e of L i t t l e Cypress Creek Watershed .Hydrologic P r o p e r t i e s of t h e Geologic U n i t s .CHARACTER OF STREAMnOW .January Study .J u n e Study .WATER USES .Municipal .I n d u s t r i a l .I r r i g a t i o n .ClimateCOMPARISON OF THE JANUARY AND JUNE STUDIES.REFERENCES .SUMMARY AND r d i s c h a r g e and chemical a n a l y s e s . L i t t l e Cypress Creek.J a n u a r y 196410S m a r y of w a t e r d i s c h a r g e measurements. L i t t l e Cypress Creek baseflow i n v e s t i g a t i o n . J u n e 196413Water d i s c h a r g e and chemical a n a l y s e s . L i t t l e Cypress Creek. J u n e196419.

TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont'd. )PageFigures1.2.3.4.5.6.7.Photographs Showing T y p i c a l Improved A g r i c u l t u r a l and F o r e s t e dAreas i n t h e L i t t l e Cypress Creek Watershed3Photographs Showing Typical Occurrences of Seeps and Springs i nt h e L i t t l e Cypress Creek Watershed.4Generalized Geologic Map of L i t t l e Cypress Creek Watershed ShowingD i s t r i b u t i o n of Geologic U n i t s and S t r u c t u r e s . .6Discharge Hydrographs f o r Stream-Gaging S t a t i o n s on L i t t l e CypressCreek Near Ore C i t y and Near J e f f e r s o n .9.Graph Showing Changes i n Chemical C h a r a c t e r and Water Discharge,L i t t l e Cypress Creek, January 2-3, 195411Graph Showing Changes i n Chemical C h a r a c t e r and Water Discharge,L i t t l e Cypress Creek, J u n e 10-13, 1 9 6 4 .16Photographs Showing E f f e c t s of I n d u s t r i a l , O i l - F i e l d , and MunicipalE f f l u e n t P o l l u t i o n i n t h e L i t t l e Cypress Creek Watershed.17.PlatesFollows1.Map Showing Water Discharge, Chemical Q u a l i t y , and StreambedM a t e r i a l , L i t t l e Cypress Creek Watershed, June 10-13, 1964. Page 23

B A S E - F L O WL I T T L EC Y P R E S SU P S H U R ,H A R R I S O NC R E E KG R E G G ,C O U N T I E S ,Q u a n t i t yJ a n u a r yS T U D I E Sa n da n dA N DT E X A SQ u a l i t yJ u n e1 9 6 4INTRODUCTIONThe b a s e - f l o w i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f L i t t l e C y p r e s s Creek i n n o r t h e a s t Texaswas made by t h e U.S. G e o l o g i c a l S u r v e y u n d e r p r o v i s i o n s o f t h e 1964 c o o p e r a t i v eagreement w i t h t h e t h e n Texas Water Commission. The agreement p r o v i d e s f o rt h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f t h e w a t e r r e s o u r c e s o f Texas.Base f l o w i s d e f i n e d a s s u s t a i n e d o r f a i r - w e a t h e r f l o w . I n most c a s e s t h eb a s e f l o w i s p r e d o m i n a n t l y ground-water e f f l u e n t ; however, i t may i n c l u d e r e t u r nfrom bank s t o r a g e and r e s i d u a l - p r e c i p i t a t i o n r u n o f f i n t h e form o f d r a i n a g e froml a k e s , swamps, and m a r s h e s . Amount o f b a s e f l o w , t h e r e f o r e , may v a r y w i t hc l i m a t e , geology, v e g e t a t i o n , and human a c t i v i t i e s .(1) t o d e t e r m i n e t h e s o u r c e andPurposes o f t h e base-flow s t u d i e s were:q u a n t i t y o f t h e low f l o w ; (2) t o d e t e r m i n e t h e c h e m i c a l q u a l i t y o f t h e w a t e r andi t s s u i t a b i l i t y f o r m u n i c i p a l , i n d u s t r i a l , and a g r i c u l t u r a l u s e ; and (3) t oe v a l u a t e t h e e f f e c t o f geology, v e g e t a t i o n , and human a c t i v i t i e s o n t h e q u a n t i t yand c h e m i c a l q u a l i t y o f t h e w a t e r .To e v a l u a t e t h e g a i n s and l o s s e s o f s t r e a m f l o w t h e t r i b u t a r y i n f l o w ,s t r e a m b e d m a t e r i a l , and f l o o d - p l a i n v e g e t a t i o n w e r e examined a t s i t e s t h a ti n c l u d e t h e main c h a n n e l and a l l d e f i n e d t r i b u t a r i e s , shown i n P l a t e 1. Twof i e l d s u r v e y s w e r e made f o r t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n :1. I n J a n u a r y 1964, a l i m i t e d s u r v e y was made o f a c h a n n e l r e a c hb e g i n n i n g a t s i t e 5 ( m i l e 48.0) and e n d i n g a t s i t e 57 ( m i l e 7.5).Dischargemeasurements and q u a l i t y - o f - w a t e r s a m p l e s w e r e o b t a i n e d a t o n l y 7 s i t e s o n t h emain c h a n n e l i n t h i s s u r v e y .2.I n J u n e 1964, a s u r v e y was made o f a r e a c h b e g i n n i n g a t s i t e 1( m i l e 52.1) and e n d i n g a t s i t e 6 1 ( m i l e 3.0).D i s c h a r g e measurements andq u a l i t y - o f - w a t e r s a m p l e s w e r e o b t a i n e d a t 1 0 s i t e s o n t h e main c h a n n e l (7 s i t e sof t h e J a n u a r y s u r v e y w e r e remeasured) and a t s i t e s o n a l l f l o w i n g t r i b u t a r i e s .

The r e a s o n f o r s e l e c t i n g t h e J a n u a r y and J u n e p e r i o d s was t o o b t a i n t h e maximum a n n u a l d i f f e r e n c e i n t h e e f f e c t s which v e g e t a l growth, e v a p o r a t i o n , andu s a g e have o n t h e s t r e a m f l o w i n t h e r e a c h .A v a i l a b l e i n t h e f i l e s o f t h e U.S. G e o l o g i c a l S u r v e y i n A u s t i n a r e s u p p o r t i n g d a t a f o r t a b l e s and i l l u s t r a t i o n s i n t h i s r e p o r t .WATERSHED FEATURESClimateAverage a n n u a l p r e c i p i t a t i o n i s a b o u t 46 i n c h e s i n t h e L i t t l e C y p r e s sCreek watershed. Eleven inches o f t h i s p r e c i p i t a t i o n g e n e r a l l y occurs d u r i n gt h e months o f A p r i l and May. The a v e r a g e p r e c i p i t a t i o n f o r J a n u a r y i s a b o u t% i n c h e s and f o r J u n e a b o u t 3 i n c h e s . The a v e r a g e a n n u a l t e m p e r a t u r e i s a b o u t66" F.; t h e c o l d e s t month i s January and t h e warmest J u l y . D u r i n g t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n t h e J a n u a r y and June t e m p e r a t u r e s w e r e less t h a n a v e r a g e , and t h e r eThus, t h e c l i m a t e was f a v o r a b l e f o r b a s e - f l o w s t u d i e s .was no p r e c i p i t a t i o n .General G e o m o r p h o l o L i t t l e C y p r e s s Creek, which h a s i t s h e a d w a t e r s i n s o u t h w e s t e r n Camp andn o r t h e a s t e r n Wood C o u n t i e s , flows e a s t w a r d a b o u t 70 m i l e s , d r a i n i n g p a r t s o fUpshur, Gregg, Marion, and H a r r i s o n C o u n t i e s i n n o r t h e a s t e r n T e x a s . Thesec o u n t i e s l i e w i t h i n t h e n o r t h e r n p a r t o f t h e West Gulf C o a s t a l P l a i n p h y s i o g r a p h i c p r o v i n c e . The d r a i n a g e a r e a s above t h e s t r e a m - g a g i n g s t a t i o n s a t s i t e s7 and 57 i n c l u d e 383 and 675 s q u a r e m i l e s r e s p e c t i v e l y .The t o t a l d r a i n a g ea r e a above t h e mouth i s 693 s q u a r e m i l e s .The d r a i n a g e b a s i n i s bounded b y i r r e g u l a r , r o l l i n g , and h i l l y u p l a n d s ,The f l o o dmany o f which a r e c u l t i v a t e d o r c l e a r e d f o r p a s t u r e l a n d ( F i g u r e 1 A ) .L i t t l e Cypressp l a i n forms a f l a t v a l l e y , g e n e r a l l y 1 t o 2 m i l e s i n w i d t h .Creek h a s t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e t y p i c a l o l d - a g e s t r e a m i n t h a t i t meandersi r r e g u l a r l y a c r o s s t h e f l o o d p l a i n , f o r m i n g swamp and marsh a r e a s a d j a c e n t t oi t s main c h a n n e l . The g r a d i e n t o f t h e streambed i s e s t a b l i s h e d and o n l y minord e g r a d a t i o n t a k e s p l a c e . I n some o i l - f i e l d and c l e a r e d a r e a s , t h e n a t u r a lc h a n n e l c o n f i g u r a t i o n h a s b e e n s t r a i g h t e n e d by c l e a r i n g o f v e g e t a t i o n b y man.A p p r o x i m a t e l y 70 p e r c e n t o f t h e b a s i n i s d e n s e l y c o v e r e d w i t h e v e r g r e e n s andd e c i d u o u s v e g e t a t i o n . Abundant growth o f p h r e a t o p h y t e s g e n e r a l l y i s morec o n c e n t r a t e d on t h e f l o o d p l a i n s and m a r s h l a n d s ( F i g u r e s 1B and 2 A ) .G e o l o g i c S t r u c t u r e o f L i t t l e C y p r e s s Creek WatershedL i t t l e Cypress Creek t r a v e r s e s sediments d e p o s i t e d i n a s y n c l i n a l s t r u c t u r eknown a s t h e E a s t Texas Embayment o r B a s i n . The E a s t Texas B a s i n t r e n d s n o r t h e a s t w a r d , i t s a x i s p a s s i n g t h r o u g h Wood, Upshur, H a r r i s o n , Marion, and Cass

A.Cleared productive pastureland area near s i t e 6B.Timber r e f o r e s t a t i o n and conservation area operated by a p r i v a t e lumber company near s i t e 61Figure1Typical Improved Agricultural and Forested Areosin the Little Cypress Creek WatershedU.S.GeologicalSurveyin cooperntionwiththeTexasWaterDevelopmentBoard

A.S p r i n g (dashed l i n e ) f l o w i n g from t h e Queen C i t ySand a d j a c e n t t o L i t t l e Cypress Creek n e a r s i t e 2 7B.V e g e t a t i o n (dashed l i n e ) i n highway c u t d e n o t e sseepage and s p r i n g h o r i z o n c o i n c i d e n t w i t h t h econtact.The f l o o d p l a i n of L i t t l e Cypress Creekn e a r s i t e 61 i s shown a t f a r r i g h t .FigureTypical2Occurrences of Seeps and Springs in the LittleCypress Creek WatershedU.S. Geologic01Survey in cooperationwiththe Texas Water DevelopmentBoord