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edge of the town of Rockvale. The town owns the fields which are <br />planted with alfalfa and small row crops. water ie brought to <br />the fields along a diversion ditch 3 feet wide that starts about <br />300 feet downstream from the Twin Pines No. 2 Mine road crossing <br />of Oak Creek. Large trees and shrubs dot portions of the Oak <br />Creek channel but the valley floor not under cultivation is <br />covered with blue grams grass and some prickley pear cactus. <br />Generally the natural vegetation cover does no't appear to be <br />phreatophytic. This may indicate that the water table ie at a <br />depth not conducive to sub-irrigation. During the fall season <br />the depth to the water table in the alluvial deposit is further <br />lowered by wells that drain water from the aquifer. <br />As the volume of runoff reduces during the fall season and <br />the base flow in the valley fill is diverted to wells, Oak Creek <br />apparently dries up along most of its course. Five shallow wells <br />above the confluence with Lewis Gulch tap the water table aquifer <br />• in the alluvial fill collecting the water through tunnels across <br />the channel and directing it to collectors from where it flows by <br />gravity through a 6-inch cast iron pipe to Rockvale municipality <br />reservoirs (see drawl~g of General Mine Area). Two more wells on <br />the west side of the town are pumped to augment the water supply <br />to Rockvale. In recent years the supply of water to the town has <br />been dwindling and there are plane to sink more shallow wells <br />into Che alluvial deposit of Oak Creek further upstream from the <br />existing ones (see drawing of General Mine Area). Besides <br />Rockvale, there are two ranches, one between Rockvale and the <br />confluence with Lewis Gulch and another upstream from the <br />confluence, that reportedly depend on the water table aquifer in <br />Oak Creek for their water supply. <br />The Oak Creek valley floor ie flat to gently eloping with <br />maximum gradient of 10 1/2x and an average width of about 500 <br />feet (fig. 2.06.8-1, 2.06.8-2, end 2.06.8-3). Ae outlined in the <br />• General Mine Area drawing the valley floor has an area of 166.4 <br />acres. Just below the confluence of Lewis Gulch, Oak Creek has a <br />JFSA-71 <br />