Bayou Desiard is a

bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

Ouachita Parish, Louisiana Ouachita Parish () is a parish located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 160,368. The parish seat and largest city is Monroe. The parish was formed in 1807. Ouachita Parish is pa ...

and

Morehouse Parish, Louisiana Morehouse Parish (French:Paroisse de Morehouse) is a List of parishes in Louisiana, parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,629. The parish seat is Bastrop, Louis ...

. The bayou receives inflow from

Bayou Bartholomew Bayou Bartholomew is the longest bayou in the world, meandering approximately in the U.S. states of Arkansas and Louisiana.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 3, 2011 ...

(Bartholomew Lake), Black Bayou Lake and Mill Bayou and flows through downtown

Monroe, Louisiana Monroe is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the parish seat and largest city of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolitan statistical ...

and the campus of the

University of Louisiana at Monroe The University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System. History ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it becam ...

. The Bayou Desiard Bridge crosses the bayou in Monroe.

History

Originally, Bayou DeSiard formed the lower end of a historical channel of the Arkansas River and received inflow from the Ouachita River. The bayou was impounded by an earthen levee in 1935 thereby diverting the flow to Bartholomew Lake and into Bayou Desiard. By an act of the Louisiana legislature on July 13, 1962, the Bayou DeSiard-Bayou Bartholomew Cut-Off Loop Water Conservation Board was created to build control structures and manage the water levels in the basin.

Purpose and use

Bayou DeSiard is the primary water source for the City of Monroe and is regulated by the city for drinking water and flood control. The bayou is also used for fishing, duck hunting, boating and water skiing. The

water ski team and fishing team use the bayou. The annual Bayou DeSiard Dragon Boat Festival is held on the bayou.

Timber and vegetation

Dense stands of bald cypress are located on the northern end of the bayou. Cypress becomes less abundant and more scattered moving north to south. Water Tupelo are also present. Floating vegetation includes duckweed, water hyacinth and eichhornia crassipes. Submerged vegetation includes coontail, fanwort, elodea and southern naiad.

References

{{Reflist Rivers of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana Monroe, Louisiana University of Louisiana at Monroe Wetlands and bayous of Louisiana