FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY


and Little creeks, the ridge is broken by swamps in several places
and the two basins are interconnected. Big Creek, including Green
Swamp Run, drains an area of about 70 square miles. The basin,
from Haines City to Lake Louisa, is about 25 miles long and from
2 to 4 miles wide. The swamp channel ranges in elevation from
about 130 feet near Lake Lowery to about 100 feet near Lake
Louisa.
 Little Creek drains an area in Lake County west of Big Creek
and empties into Lake Louisa. The western boundary of the Little
Creek basin is fairly well defined by low ridges. However, in a few
places the ridges are broken by saddles. The exchange of surface
drainage between Little Creek and the Withlacoochee River
through the saddles in the western boundary appears to be
negligible.
 The southern boundary of the Little Creek basin is not well
defined. The probable boundary is along an old road that extends
from State Highway 33 to U. S. Highway 27 about a mile or two
north of the Lake-Polk County line. Much of the drainage from
the area that was formerly drained by Little Creek has been
diverted into the Withlacoochee River by interceptor canals. These
canals are located near the Polk-Lake County line. However, some
water from its former basin still drains into Little Creek through
natural swamp channels that were not closed when the interceptor
canals were dug. The present (1962) drainage area for Little
Creek, as outlined in figure 5, is about 15 square miles during dry
periods. During wet periods, water flows into the basin through the
openings in the road along the southern boundary of Lake County.
 Lake Louisa is the uppermost of a chain of large lakes in the
 upper Palatlakaha Creek system. Lake Minnehaha, Lake Minneola,
 and Cherry Lake are next in order below Lake Louisa. These lakes
 are connected by the wide, deep channel of Palatlakaha Creek. In
 addition to draining these lakes, Palatlakaha Creek also drains an
 area of smaller lakes and upland marshes westward to State
 Highway 33. This area affords storage facilities for large quantities
 of water.
 During the latter part of 1956, an earthen dam with two radial
 gates was built at the outlet of Cherry Lake to maintain the stages
 of the waterway and lakes upstream during prolonged periods of
 dry weather. The water surface from the upper pool at this dam
 to Lake Louisa is essentially level except during periods of high
 discharge. During the maximum discharge period in 1960, the
 stage of Lake Louisa was about 1.6 feet higher than that of the