REPORT OF INVESTIGATIONS NO. 42


 Gator Hole Slough heads just east of the Seaboard Air Line
Railroad and flows westward through an unimproved swamp
channel, entering the eastern boundary of the Withlacoochee State
Forest about 3 miles west of the railroad. It continues within the
boundaries of the Forest to its confluence with Devils Creek which
empties into the Withlacoochee River 21/ miles farther west.
 The Little Withlacoochee River, the largest tributary of the
Withlacoochee River, heads near State Highway 33 in Lake County
and flows westerly. Bay Root Slough is the headwater tributary
of the Little Withlacoochee River. This stream carries the drainage
from several lakes and swamps east of the Seaboard Air Line
Railroad and flows northwestward to the Lake-Sumter County line
at the eastern boundary of the Withlacoochee State Forest. The
river channel within the Forest is wide and shallow and contains
dense growths of cypress trees. The channel has been allowed to
remain in its natural swampy condition to store as much water as
possible, rather than to remove the water by improved drainage,
as a precautionary measure against fire damages to the valuable
cypress and pine trees in the Forest. The Little Withlacoochee
River emerges from the Forest near the Sumter-Hernando County
line, where it is joined on the north by a major canal. This canal
drains a swampy area between the Forest and State Highway 50.
The river continues westward through the swamp to the crossing
of State Highway 50 where it turns and flows northwestward
toward U. S. Highway 301. Another canal joins the river about a
quarter of a mile upstream from U. S. Highway 301. This canal
heads near Webster, flows southward about 11 miles, then turns
westward to Big Gant Lake and then to the Little Withlacoochee
River. The Little Withlacoochee River continues westward and
empties into the Withlacoochee River 3 miles downstream from
U. S. Highway 301.
 STREAMFLOW

 Streamflow data for gaging stations in the Withlacoochee River
 basin during the data-collection phase of the investigation are
 summarized in table 5.
 Flow-duration curves for five gaging stations in the Withla-
 coochee River basin are given in figure 10. Records for only the
 Trilby gaging station are continuous for the 311/2-year period,
 1931-62. The curves for the other four stations in the basin have
 been adjusted from their individual short-term records to the
 31/-year base period.