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<br />were made in 1903 and a feasibility report was prepared in 1904. Congress authorized the <br />construction of a storage dam on the Rio Grande near Engle, New Mexico on February 25, <br />1905 (33 Stat. 814). Because Texas was not yet included in the provisions of the Reclamation <br />Act, Congress specifically provided that Texas lands could be served by this project. The <br />Secretary of Interior approved the project and an allotment of funds for the initial construction <br />activities on December 2, 1905. The project was to irrigate 185,000 acres of land in New <br />Mexico and Texas and 60,000 acre-feet of water were to be delivered annually to the Republic <br />of Mexico pursuant to the 1906 Mexican Treaty. One million dollars of non-reimbursable <br />funding were appropriated by the Act of March 4, 1907 (34 Stat. 1357) as the State <br />Department's share of the cost for the allocation of water to Mexico. Construction of the Project <br />began in 1906, and water was first delivered for irrigation through project facilities in 1908. The <br />storage dam near Engle, now known as Elephant Butte Dam, was completed in 1916. By the <br />mid 1920s, the diversion and distribution facilities were substantially completed. Hydropower <br />facilities were constructed at Elephant Butte Dam in 1940. <br /> <br />The U.S. Reclamation Service filed notices of intent to appropriate Rio Grande waters <br />for the Rio Grande Project with the New Mexico Territorial Engineer in 1906 and 1908 (USBR, <br />1995, pp. 111-16 and 111-17). The 1906 notice covered 730,000 acre-feet per year with a <br />maximum diversion or storage volume of 2,000,000 miners inches. The 1908 filing covered all <br />unappropriated water of the Rio Grande and its tributaries. <br /> <br />Caballo Dam and Reservoir were constructed during 1936-38. As explained later, they <br />were originally conceived as a flood control unit of the Rio Grande Rectification Project. In order <br />to pennit the generation of hydropower during the non-irrigation season, the height of the dam <br />was increased to provide storage in which to re-regulate water released exclusively for <br />hydropower purposes. The USBR was given the responsibility for constructing, operating, and <br />maintaining the facility by agreement between the Interior and State Departments. <br /> <br />The Elephant Butte Water Users Association and the EI Paso Water Users Association <br />were active in the project area during the initial phases of the project construction, but lacked <br />the ability to contract with the USBR for the repayment of drainage facilities. EBID was fonned <br />in 1918 as a reorganization of the Elephant Butte Water Users Association. It comprises a total <br /> <br />3-3 <br /> <br />r',~ f""f.,." <br />" ~ I.... v <br />