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<br />, <br /> <br />Mesilla Vallev <br /> <br />Downstream from Selden Canyon, the Rio Grande enters the Mesilla Valley, which is <br />formed by the Robledo and Dona Ana Mountains. The Mesilla Valley extends downstream a <br />distance of about 55 miles to "The Pass'04J, about 4 miles upstream from EI Paso. River <br />elevations range from about 4,000 to 3,700 feet. The valley is as much as 6 miles in width. <br />Approximately 75,000 acres are currently irrigated in the Mesilla Valley. About 64,000 of these <br />areas in the EBID in New Mexico and 11,000 are in the EPCWlD in Texas. <br /> <br />Table 2-5 summarizes available records for the now in the Rio Grande at Leasburg Dam. <br />The values in the table were derived by combining the measured diversions into the Leasburg <br />Canal with the measured now in the river immediately below the Leasburg Diversion Dam. <br />During 1914-95, the now into the Mesilla Valley averaged 669,055 acre-feet annually and <br />ranged from 167,623 acre-feet in 1964 to 1,764,110 acre-feet in 1942. Since the Leasburg <br />Diversion Dam is located about 2 miles downstream from the mouth of Selden Canal, these <br />values renect the now of the river into the Mesilla Valley. <br /> <br />Water for the Rio Grande Project in the Mesilla Valley is diverted at the Leasburg and <br />Mesilla Diversion Dams. (See Plate 2 and Figure 2-3.) As previously mentioned, the Leasburg <br />Diversion Dam is located about 2 miles downstream from the mouth of Selden Canyon and <br />about 43 miles downstream from Caballo Dam. The Mesilla Diversion Dam is located about 22 <br />miles downstream from Leasburg Diversion Dam and about 75 miles downstream from Caballo <br />Dam. The Leasburg Diversion Dam was completed and began operating in 1908; the Mesilla <br />Diversion Dam was completed and began operating in 1916. <br /> <br />At the Leasburg Dam, water is diverted into the Leasburg Canal on the east bank of the <br />Rio Grande for distribution through the Leasburg, Las Cruces, and Mesilla Canals. These three <br />canals service approximately 31,600 acres, all of which are in the EBID in New Mexico. The <br /> <br />4J The "Pass. is a narrow gap between the Franklin Mountains and the Sierra de Gristo Rey at the <br />northern tip of Sierra de Juarez. <br /> <br />(' J'.' <br />'-' ~. \to'.j ..Ii" <br /> <br />2 -10 <br />