WSP09764

• File Number: 8221.105
• Description: Chino Valley Project
• State: AZ
• Date: 12/17/1947
• Title: Chino Valley Project Arizona: Regional Director's Report
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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the water users attempt to irrigate. Usually only about half of the
2,538 acres of land under irrigation actually produce crops although
attempts often are made to irrigate and crop all or most of it, and
water charges apparently are assessed against the entire 2,538 acres.

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11. Normal cost of operation and maintenance during the 5-year
period from 1939-40 through 1943-44 averaged $3,550 annually, or about
$1.40 per acre of the 2,538 acres of land under irrigation in the Dis-'
trict. Annual assessments, which include service on outstanding lands,
varied from approximately $2.00 to $3.75 per acre during the same period
and averaged $3,00 per acre. The District normally has a small income
from various sources amounting to about $500 a year or 20 cents per acre
assessed.

12. Principal crops grown in the area are alfalfa, dry beans;
small grains and corn, Some farms grow fr~it for'home consumption.
Because of the shallow soil over much of the area, shallow-rooted crops
such as beans, small grains and corn are better adapted to the area
than alfalfa. The lower water requirements of beans and small grains
add to their adaptability. Livestock is confined largely to a few
small dairy herds the milk from which is marketed as fluid milk in
Prescott. Although the Chino Valley area is surrounded by large areas
of summer range, this range has little connection with the local farms
as most of the cattle and sheep grazed in the vicinity are brought in
from outside areas.

13, The average size of holding in the Chino Valley area is about
40 acres, although holdings of 17 to 25 acreS are reported to be most
numerous. Many of the residents of the area have other income and are
actually only part-time farmers. The proportion of these part-time
farmers has been increasing during recent years. Full-time farmers
have larger operating units, generally ranging from 60 to 120 acres
?~d averaging about 80 acres per farm. Some have additional land in
the adjacent artesian area included in their operating units.

14. Irrigated land in Yavapai County which obtains its water
from a permanent gravity supply is assessed at $45 per acre while land
using pumped water is assessed at $25 per acre. Taxes averaged $0.76
per acre'in 1943 for the 2,538 acres of land under irrigation in the
District.

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15. To provide funds for construction of Willow Creek dam and -
the connecting cut between the t"~ reservoirs, the District'issued a
series of 4 percent bonds in December 1937 amounting to $85,000, and
a second series in February 1938, totalling $9,000, and drawing inter-
est o.t 5 percent. . The bonds mature annually in various 3l11ounts from
1946 through 1967, The District purchased $7,000 of the 4 percent
bonds in 1940, leaving a total of $87,000 outstanding of which the
Reconstruction Finance Corporation holds $$4,500; the remainder are
held by Public Works Administration and Yavapai County. Annual bond
service costs, which include both interest and debt retirement, range
from $3,770 to $7,710, and average ~6,002 or $2,37 per acre assessed,

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