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<br />The 2{io yrande drains more than 170,000 mi2 of Mexico and the Ameri- <br /> <br />can Southwest (Bartlett. 1984). flowing 1,865 miles from the San Juan Mountains of <br />Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico at Brownsville. Texas. In northern New Mexico. the Rio <br />Grande is a vigorous snow-fed river, with a <br />mean annual flow of 0.5 million acre.feet. <br />Near the Gulf of Mexico. the river has an <br />annual flow of 1.8 million acre.feet. But <br />something strange happens in between. <br />From Fort Quitman to Presidio. Texas. the <br />river can be <br />totally dry. At <br />times. the Rio <br />Grande is like <br />one river cut in <br />two. both ends <br />alive but <br />cleaved in the <br />middle. <br />The story <br />of the Rio <br />Grande is one <br />of withdrawal <br />of water for <br />agriculture and <br />tributaries <br />streams adding <br />it back with <br />sediment. <br />Most of the <br />water that <br />flows through <br />central New <br />Mexico is <br />redirected into <br />canals in the EI <br />Paso area. But <br />tributaries to <br />this stretch of <br />the Rio <br />Grande are <br />mostly unregu- <br />lated. and <br />runoff from <br />periodic <br />storms can <br /> <br />!l(io (jrande <br /> <br /> <br />The Rio Grande <br />between Elephant Butte Dam, <br />New Mexico and Presidio, Texas <br /> <br />1080 <br /> <br />300 <br /> <br />29 <br />