Akizdna Ac.uruutlkal Expicrimicnt Station 451 



THE SAN SIMON V ALLEY 



By special act of the Fourth Legislature, an appropriation was 

 made for water supply investigations in Cochise County. The 

 largest item in the appropriation is for an artesian test Avell in the 

 San Simon Valley; and inasmuch as the artesian water supply is 

 closely related to the other sources of supply, it seemed wise to 

 concentrate the investigations in that valley until the principal 

 problems were solved. 



The artesian wells of the valley have been visited, and the 

 pressures and discharges have been measured for comparison with 

 previous measurements. Attention has been given also to the 

 shallow-well water supplies. The valley and surrounding moun- 

 tains have been searched for reservoir sites, and the two best loca- 

 tions so far found have been surveyed with a view to their use as 

 storage reservoirs. 



In order to study the surface run-off, gaging stations have 

 been established on San Simon Creek, and on six of the creeks 

 issuing from the Chiricahua Mountains. 



The drilling of the artesian well has been deferred, partly in 

 the hope that the well of the U. S. Oil & Refining Co. would prog- 

 ress rapidly and would indicate the formations likely to be encoun- 

 tered in the State test w^ell, and partly in the belief that the price 

 of well casing would be reduced. Specifications for the test well 

 have been prepared and bids for drilling the well will be asked 

 at once. 



THE STATE WATER CODE 



As a sequel to Circular No. 11 of the College of Agriculture, 

 Circular No. 26, entitled "Water Storage and the Water Code," was 

 published in December, 1918. This circular pointed out the avail- 

 able lines of irrigation water supply development in Arizona, and 

 emphasized the dependence of future development on the adoption 

 of a water code similar to the codes of the other irrigated states. 



A state water code bill prepared by this department was intro- 

 duced in the Fourth Legislature, and its provisions and purposes 

 were explained in detail to the members of the Legislature. The 

 bill was passed on March 13, 1919, and is now in full effect. The 

 most important feature of the law is the provision for the determi- 

 nation of all existing water rights, taking an entire watershed at 

 one time, and the fixing of titles of these water rights, so that every 

 water user may know his exact status with respect to every other 

 water user. The establishing of these water rights makes it pos- 



