New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1917-11-09
ARTESIAN WATER
IS STRUCK IN
OTERO COUNTY
WATER IS GOOD FOR STOCK
AND IRRIGATION; WELL
IS NOW FLOWING AT THE
RATE OF 1000 GALLONS
A MINUTE

What many believe marks new
epoch in the development of the
Sacramento valley took place last
Saturday when the drill at Twin
Buttes camp developed large stream
of flowing water. 1t seems that the
small stream that was brought in
about two weeks ago had br ken
down the walls of the hole from
pressure and developed into a large
sized flow It has been estimated
by number of men that the stream
Ions per minute at the present time.
Fr,e From Common Salt
The water is free from common
salt but according to F {. ROLAND.
who has. made superficial tests, the
water contains eqsom or glauber
salts. This much is certain however,
and that is tl~t it is a first class
stock water and can also be used
in the steatr boilers at the we'll ac-
cordinc t. Mr.. Foster. the contract
or. He states that it is better,
steaminr water than he has been us
ing and which has been supplied by
the COMPANY from the w. B. Jack
son well. This well water has been
used for irrigation purposes with
satisfactory results.
Strike At 900 Feet
The water was hroupht in at lit
tie less than 900 feet and the drill
has gone farther into the hard rock
below the water-bearinC stratum of
artesian pressure The nreSert in
tention of the Twin Buttes Co, is
to shut the water off from the drill
with a string of Finch casing as
soon as it can be obt7ined and then
to 20 on nroeoectirm for OIL, Il is
not believed thot the artes;on watcr
has anv connection with what m1v
be found hetow in ;-,no-vi0rs strata.
Draining Big Basin
Granting that the artcsian water
is of good quality and over quite
an extensive area Of the valley, as
may now seem probable, the qucs-
ton naturally arises as to the source
of and the amount + the artcri1n
supply. That question should not
bother when it is taken into c6nsi-
deration that the parts Of the Sa~ra-
mento Mountains and Sierra Blanca
living west of the divide and that
drain into the Sacramento basin
cover somewhat more than one
tenth of the total area Of the basin.
This portion receives far greater
than the plains area and
gives rise to the permanent streams
that flow into the valley
The Rinconada drainage area
which drains to the plains through
the Alamo comprise about IS square
miles; the Tularosa area about los
miles: the La Luz and Fresnal about
Is square miles and the small drain
age areas of the smaller canons be- |
tween the Tularosa and Alamo about
200 square miles.
Areas SEQ Square Miles
The entire west side Of the Sa.
rranento mountains between Three
Rivers and Dog Canon comprises
ir9inaFe area Of over 500 square
miles. The tot'l avcrare precipit1-
ton is probably not less than 1S
inches. The stream DISCHARGE ex-
,lusive of the flood disch1r@es, is
less than five per cent Of the preci-
citation. and great del of this is
delivered bv srrinos which derive
he water from higher sources.
The food water DISCHARGES are n
yerv. smnf norton also Of the total
Therefore the greater
portion of the water sin''s into the
soil ard rocks TO he finally dis
,harped through srbterranean out
cts at the lower portion of the val
ey
Only Two Outlets
There are orlv two outlets for
hose vast quantities Of water and
hcv are over the surface as run
'ff flood waters and down thr0uoh
he urderf'ow outlet The flood wa
efs do not get far into the valley
efore it is all disSip,ted THROUGH
ercolat;on into the soil and is avail-
Bile as shallow well water. By far
he greater portion Of the rain and
now waters that foil rDon the 500
uuare miles of water shed mon the
vest side of the Sacramento noun
he mountains and finds its wev in
n the deen-lvino strata of the val
~. probably all. or most all of it
cen below the val'ev fiji in the
ockv bottom of the valley. There
! abundant reason to believe that
his NAV be deve'oned into artesian
r near-artesian 81 lows of vast uran-
ties Of water. This is far strong-
r conjecture than ever since the .
evelonment Of the fine flow Of the =
win Buttes Company the latter part
last week
Suitable For I--ieation
OWNS to the conditions Of the val
" and the fine orortun;t;es for
rainage and the frequent flood wa
,rs over the Surface Of the vn'lev.
n artesian water carving salts could
e used to far greater decree than
| most artesian water countries Salt
'aters for irrigation are accumuIa-
We in effect and their rse for that
rrpose may not be noticeable dele
,rious for season or two. With an
ccasional heavy flooding from srr-
ice waters the salts are washed out
nd no bad effects are noticeable.
hich otherwise would he.
Water Is V-ry' Warm
In the case of the artesian water
TWIN Buttes il comes up at a
of 90 degrees.
Future DEVELOPMENT of the artesi,n
ater proposition for the valley will
: watched with interest nv many
of people. for there are
anv thousands of acres of the rich
It land in the United States in this
llley, lying under a climate that is
surpassed for healthfu'ress and
tisfaction.-Alamogordo News.