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45-467: The Rio Grande Project is a United States Bureau of Reclamation irrigation , hydroelectricity , flood control , and interbasin water transfer project serving the upper Rio Grande basin in the southwestern United States . The project irrigates 193,000 acres (780 km) along the river in the states of New Mexico and Texas . Approximately 60 percent of this land is in New Mexico. Some water

90-503: A large section of the Mexico–United States border . Illegal immigrants once had to swim across the river at the border, but with the river so low immigrants need only wade across for most of the year. Other than extensive diversions, exotic introduced, fast-growing and water-consuming plants, such as water hyacinth and hydrilla , are also leading to reduced flows. The United States government has recently attempted to slow or stop

135-582: A long, narrow area of 178,000 acres (72,000 ha) in the Rio Grande Valley in south-central New Mexico and western Texas. Crops grown in the region include grain , pecans , alfalfa , cotton , and many types of vegetables. Power generated at the Elephant Butte power plant is distributed through an electrical grid totaling 490 miles (790 km) of 115- kilovolt transmission lines and 11 substations . Originally built by Reclamation,

180-543: A major Reclamation Bureau dam led to subsequent strengthening of its dam-safety program to avoid similar problems. Even so, the failure of Teton Dam, the environmental movement, and the announcement of President Carter 's "hit list" on water projects profoundly affected the direction of Reclamation's programs and activities. Reclamation operates about 180 projects in the 17 western states. The total Reclamation investment for completed project facilities in September 1992

225-430: Is 228 feet (69 m) thick at the base and tapers to about 18 feet (5.5 m) thick at the crest. The dam took 629,500 cubic yards (481,300 m) of material to construct. The full volume of Elephant Butte Reservoir is some 2,109,423 acre⋅ft (2.601935 × 10 m), accounting for about 85% of the project's storage capacity. The outlet works of the dam can release 10,800 cu ft/s (310 m/s), while

270-437: Is 7 feet (2.1 m) high above the river and 10 feet (3.0 m) high above its foundations. The dam and adjacent dikes total 3,922.3 feet (1,195.5 m) in length. The dam's spillway is a broad-crested weir about 600 feet (180 m) long with a capacity of 17,000 cu ft/s (480 m/s). The dam diverts water into the 13.7-mile (22.0 km) Leasburg Canal, which irrigates 31,600 acres (12,800 ha) of land in

315-536: Is also a popular site for picnicking, fishing and boating. Elephant Butte Lake State Park and Caballo Lake State Park serve the two reservoirs, respectively. Even before the Rio Grande Project, the waters of the Rio Grande were already overtaxed by human development in the region. At the end of the 19th century, there were some 925 diversions of the river in the state of Colorado alone. In 1896, it

360-462: Is also allotted to Mexico to irrigate some 25,000 acres (100 km) on the south side of the river. The project was authorized in 1905, but its final features were not implemented until the early 1950s. The project consists of two large storage dams, 6 small diversion dams , two flood-control dams, 596 miles (959 km) of canals and their branches and 465 miles (748 km) of drainage channels and pipes. A small hydroelectric plant at one of

405-530: Is located about 40 miles (64 km) upstream of El Paso and consists of a gated overflow structure. The dam is 10 feet (3.0 m) high above the Rio Grande, 22 feet (6.7 m) high above its foundations, and measures 303 feet (92 m) long. The spillway has a capacity of 15,000 cu ft/s (420 m/s). The dam diverts water into the East Side Canal and West Side Canal, which provide irrigation water to 53,650 acres (21,710 ha) of land in

450-475: Is said to be "one of the most stressed river basins in the world". In 2001, the river failed to reach the Gulf of Mexico but instead ended 500 feet (150 m) from the shore behind a sandbar , "not with a roar but with a whimper in the sand". The river's decreasing flow has posed problems for international security. In the past, the river was wide, deep and fast-flowing in its section through Texas, where it forms

495-722: Is to "manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public". In redirecting its programs and responsibilities, Reclamation substantially reduced its staff levels and budgets but remains a significant federal agency in the West. On October 1, 2017, the Hoover Dam Police Department was closed and the National Park Service took over law enforcement duties for

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540-471: The Mexico–United States border . It is 5 feet (1.5 m) high above the riverbed, and 18 feet (5.5 m) from crest to foundation. The spillway is 286 feet (87 m) long and has a capacity of 12,000 cu ft/s (340 m/s). The dam diverts water into the American Canal, which carries up to 1,200 cubic feet per second (34 m/s) of water for 2.1 miles (3.4 km) to the beginning of

585-599: The Rio Grande Project , a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation project which distributes water of the upper Rio Grande River . It is in the area of Las Cruces, New Mexico . The district runs roughly along U.S. Route 85 between its junction with New Mexico State Road 90 and the El Paso, Texas city limits. This article about a property in New Mexico on the National Register of Historic Places

630-431: The 1890s, water use in the upper basin was so great that the river's flow near El Paso, Texas , was reduced to a trickle in dry summers. To resolve these problems, plans were drafted up for a large storage dam at Elephant Butte, about 120 miles (190 km) downstream of Albuquerque, New Mexico . The Newlands Reclamation Act was passed in 1902, authorizing the Rio Grande Project as a Bureau of Reclamation undertaking. For

675-492: The 1960s and earlier drew to an end. Reclamation wrote that "The arid West essentially has been reclaimed. The major rivers have been harnessed and facilities are in place or are being completed to meet the most pressing current water demands and those of the immediate future". Emphasis in Reclamation programs shifted from construction to operation and maintenance of existing facilities. Reclamation's redefined official mission

720-898: The Department of the Interior. Frederick Haynes Newell was appointed the first director of the new bureau. Beginning with the third person to take over the direction of Reclamation in 1923, David W. Davis, the title was changed from Director to Commissioner. In the early years, many projects encountered problems: lands or soils included in projects were unsuitable for irrigation ; land speculation sometimes resulted in poor settlement patterns; proposed repayment schedules could not be met by irrigators who had high land-preparation and facilities-construction costs; settlers were inexperienced in irrigation farming; waterlogging of irrigable lands required expensive drainage projects; and projects were built in areas which could only grow low-value crops. In 1923

765-595: The El Paso Valley, and has a capacity of about 900 cu ft/s (25 m/s). The Tornillo Canal, with a capacity of 325 cu ft/s (9.2 m/s), branches 12 miles (19 km) off the Riverside Canal. Excess waters from the canals are diverted to irrigate about 18,000 acres (7,300 ha) in Hudspeth County, Texas . The Rio Grande Project furnishes irrigation water year-round to

810-776: The Franklin Canal. The Franklin Canal is 28.4 miles (45.7 km) long and takes water into the El Paso Valle, where it irrigates 17,000 acres (69 km). Riverside Diversion Dam is the lowermost dam of the Rio Grande Project. The dam is 8 feet (2.4 m) above the streambed, 17.5 feet (5.3 m) above its foundations, and 267 feet (81 m) long. Its service spillway consists of six 16 ft (4.9 m)x8.17 ft (2.49 m) radial gates , and an uncontrolled overflow weir serves as an emergency spillway. The Riverside Canal carries water 17.2 miles (27.7 km) to

855-526: The Hoover Dam. The Hoover Dam Police Department existed for more than 80 years. Reclamation commissioners that have had a strong impact and molding of the Bureau have included Elwood Mead , Michael W. Straus , and Floyd Dominy , with the latter two being public-power boosters who ran the Bureau during its heyday. Mead guided the bureau during the development, planning, and construction of the Hoover Dam,

900-479: The Rio Grande Project, located about 25 miles (40 km) below Elephant Butte. The dam is 78 feet (24 m) high above the river, 96 feet (29 m) high from its foundations, and 4,558 feet (1,389 m) long. It forms the Caballo Reservoir, which can store up to 343,990 acre⋅ft (0.42431 km) of water. The outlet works can release 5,000 cubic feet (140 m) cubic feet per second, while

945-496: The Rio Grande and its tributaries. The river would take out some of these primitive structures in its annual floods, and a large, coordinated project would be needed to construct permanent replacements. However, investigations to begin this project did not begin until the early twentieth century. Like many rivers of the American Southwest , runoff in the Rio Grande basin is limited and varies widely from year to year. By

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990-635: The United States Bureau of Reclamation. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 16, 2017. Burman is the first woman to ever lead the Bureau of Reclamation. David Murillo was serving as the acting commissioner of the bureau. Burman resigned on January 20 after the inauguration of the Biden Administration . The current Commissioner is Camille Calimlim Touton , the first Filipino American to head

1035-609: The United States' first multiple-purpose dam. John W. Keys , the 16th Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation who served from July 2001 to April 2006, was killed two years after his retirement on May 30, 2008, when the airplane he was piloting crashed in Canyonlands National Park , Utah . On June 26, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Brenda Burman to serve as the Commissioner of

1080-557: The agency was renamed the "Bureau of Reclamation". In 1924, however, in the face of increasing settler unrest and financial woes, the "Fact Finder's Report" spotlighted major problematic issues; the Fact Finders Act in late 1924 sought to resolve some of these problems. In 1928 Congress authorized the Boulder Canyon ( Hoover Dam ) Project, and large appropriations began, for the first time, to flow to Reclamation from

1125-658: The agency. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 4, 2021. Elephant Butte Irrigation District The Elephant Butte Irrigation District is a 6,870 acres (27.8 km ) historic district in New Mexico and Texas which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. The listing included three contributing buildings and 214 contributing structures , in Doña Ana County, New Mexico , Sierra County, New Mexico and El Paso County, Texas . It preserves portions of

1170-453: The entire irrigation system would be overhauled. This involved repairing, rebuilding and extending old canals; and construction of new laterals. Work is still in progress, as agricultural development in the region continues to grow. The last major components of the project were constructed from the 1930s to the early 1950s. Caballo Dam , the second major storage facility of the project located 21 miles south of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

1215-465: The general funds of the United States. The authorization came only after a hard-fought debate about the pros and cons of public power versus private power. The heyday of Reclamation construction of water facilities occurred during the Depression and the 35 years after World War II . From 1941 to 1947, Civilian Public Service labor was used to carry on projects otherwise interrupted by

1260-490: The lands to be submerged under the future reservoir bogged down the project for a while, but work resumed in 1912 and the reservoir began to fill by 1915. The Franklin Canal was an existing 1890 canal purchased by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1912 and rebuilt from 1914 to 1915. The Mesilla and Percha Diversion Dams, East Side Canal, West Side Canal, Rincon Valley Canal, and an extension of the Leasburg Canal were built in

1305-620: The lower Mesilla Valley. The East Side Canal is 13.5 miles (21.7 km) long, and has a capacity of 300 cu ft/s (8.5 m/s). The West Side Canal is larger at 23.4 miles (37.7 km) long, and has a capacity of 650 cu ft/s (18 m/s). Near its end, the West Side Canal crosses underneath the Rio Grande via the Montoya Siphon. The American Diversion Dam is a gated dam flanked by earthen dikes about 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of El Paso and just above

1350-641: The next two years, surveyors and engineers undertook a comprehensive feasibility study for the project's dams and reservoirs. The first elements of the project to be built were the Leasburg Diversion Dam and about 6 miles (9.7 km) of supporting canal, begun in 1906 and finished in 1908. Elephant Butte Dam , the largest dam on the Rio Grande, was authorized by the United States Congress on February 15, 1905. Construction began in 1908, when groundworks were laid. Conflicts over

1395-433: The period between 1914 and 1919. In the late 1910s, a problem developed with rising local groundwater levels caused by irrigation. In response, Reclamation began planning for the extensive 465-mile (748 km) drainage system of the Rio Grande Project in 1916. Contracts for the construction of these drainage systems, as well as distribution canals (laterals) were not awarded until the period from 1917 to 1918. Before 1929,

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1440-454: The power grid remained under its ownership until 1977, when it was sold to a local company. Caballo and Elephant Butte reservoirs are both popular recreational areas. Elephant Butte Reservoir, with 36,897 acres (149.32 km) of water at full pool, is popular for swimming, boating, and fishing. Cabins, fishing tackle, and boat rental services are available at the reservoir. Downstream Caballo Reservoir, with an area of 11,500 acres (47 km),

1485-642: The progress of these weeds by introducing insects and fish that feed on the invasive plants. United States Bureau of Reclamation On June 17, 1902, in accordance with the Reclamation Act , Secretary of the Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock established the U.S. Reclamation Service within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The new Reclamation Service studied potential water development projects in each western state with federal lands. Revenue from sale of federal lands

1530-600: The project's dams also supplies electricity to the region. Long before Texas was a state, the Pueblo Indians used the waters of the Rio Grande with simple irrigation systems that were noted by the Spanish in the 16th century while conducting expeditions from Mexico to North America. In the mid-19th century, American settlers began intensive irrigation development of the Rio Grande watershed. Small dikes , dams, canals , and other irrigation works were constructed along

1575-625: The riverbed and 29 feet (8.8 m) above its foundations. . The dam diverts water into the Rincon Valley Main Canal, which is 28.1 miles (45.2 km) long and has a capacity of 350 cu ft/s (9.9 m/s). Water from the canal irrigates 16,260 acres (6,580 ha) of land in the Rincon Valley. Leasburg Diversion Dam is downstream and nearly identical in design to the Percha Diversion Dam. It

1620-421: The service spillway can release 34,750 cu ft/s (984 m/s). The reservoir and dam receive water from a catchment of 28,900 square miles (75,000 km), about 16% of the Rio Grande's total drainage area. The Elephant Butte hydroelectric station is a base load power plant that draws water from the reservoir and has a capacity of 27.95 megawatts . Caballo Dam is the second major storage dam of

1665-555: The spillway has a capacity of 33,200 cubic feet (940 m) per second. The dam has no power generation facilities, although it has been proposed that a small hydroelectric plant be installed at its base for local irrigation districts. Percha Diversion Dam lies downstream from and 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the Caballo Dam. It consists of a concrete overflow section flanked by earthen wing dikes totaling 2,489 ft (759 m) in length, standing 19 feet (5.8 m) high above

1710-425: The unlined irrigation canals; most of the mechanical fixtures in the system have been routinely replaced and are non-historic. The Elephant Butte Dam (also referred to as Elephant Butte Dike) is the main storage facility for the Rio Grande Project. It is a 1,674 ft (510 m) long concrete gravity dam standing 193 ft (59 m) above the river and 301 ft (92 m) high from its foundations. The dam

1755-406: The upper Mesilla Valley. The canal has a capacity of 625 cubic feet (17.7 m) per second. Pichacho North and Pichacho South dams impound North Pichacho Arroyo and South Pichacho Arroyo, respectively, to provide flood protection for the Leasburg Canal. Both arroyos are ephemeral , and so the dams operate only during storm events. The dams were both built in the 1950s. The Mesilla Diversion Dam

1800-451: The war effort. The last major authorization for construction projects occurred in the late 1960s, while a parallel evolution and development of the American environmental movement began to result in strong opposition to water development projects. Even the 1976 failure of Teton Dam as it filled for the first time did not diminish Reclamation's strong international reputation in water development circles. However, this first and only failure of

1845-648: Was about $ 11 billion. Reclamation projects provide agricultural, household, and industrial water to about one‑third of the population of the American West. About 5% of the land area of the West is irrigated, and Reclamation provides water to about one-fifth of that area, some 9,120,000 acres (37,000 km ) in 1992. Reclamation is a major American generator of electricity . As of 2007 , Reclamation had 58 power plants on‑line and generated 125,000 GJ of electricity. From 1988 to 1994, Reclamation underwent major reorganization as construction on projects authorized in

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1890-563: Was affirmed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) that the river's flow was decreasing by 200,000 acre-feet (250,000,000 m) annually. The river has run dry many times since the 1950s at Big Bend National Park . At El Paso, Texas , the river is non-existent for much of the year. Tributaries of the river, both on the Mexican and American sides, have been diverted heavily for irrigation. The Rio Grande

1935-485: Was built from 1936 to 1938. Caballo was built to provide flood protection for the projects downstream, stabilize outflows from Elephant Butte, and replace storage lost in Elephant Butte Reservoir due to sedimentation. With the benefit of flow regulation, a small hydroelectric plant was completed in 1940 at the base of Elephant Butte Dam. The construction of power transmission lines was begun in 1940, and

1980-415: Was finally completed by 1952. The Elephant Butte Irrigation District is a 6,870 acres (27.8 km) historic district providing recognition and limited protection for the history of much of the system, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. The listing included three contributing buildings and 214 contributing structures . Noted as historic are the diversion dams and

2025-733: Was the initial source of the program's funding. Because Texas had no federal lands, it did not become a Reclamation state until 1906, when Congress passed a law including it in the provisions of the Reclamation Act. From 1902 to 1907, Reclamation began about 30 projects in Western states. Then, in 1907, the Secretary of the Interior separated the Reclamation Service from the USGS and created an independent bureau within

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