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<br />C1;li .. <br />) \.... ....~.., V <br /> <br />,~~,h"!ill <br /> <br />r" <br /> <br />~~ <br /> <br />23 <br /> <br />The primary purpose of Elephant <br />Butte is irrigation supply, although <br />the dam is operated for limited flood <br />control purposes as well. The dam <br />outlet discharges into the riverbed <br />that runs through the town of Truth <br />or Consequences, an area prone to <br />flooding due to siltation that had <br />reduced the local Rio Grande channel <br />capacity to 2,500 cis, The 1948 Flood <br />Control Act authorizes the Bureau of <br />Reclamation to maintain this channel <br />to a 5,000 cis capacity, and in 1986, <br />restoration was completed to enlarge <br />the channel capacity to this level. <br /> <br />Elephant Butte Reservoir also serves <br />important recreational functions. <br />More than one million people annu- <br />ally visit Elephant Butte Lake State <br />Park (which is composed of the reser- <br />voir and 2,500 adjacent acres) to fish, <br />boat, camp, ski, swim, and picnic. In <br />1974, Congress authorized the use of <br />50,000 acre feet of San Juan-Chama <br />water to be stored in the reservoir as a <br />permanent recreational pool. Con- <br />gress provided, however, that if Ele. <br />phant Butte should fill and spill, the <br />recreational pool would be the first <br />water to go downstream. When it <br />became apparent in 1985 that a spill <br />would occur, the Rio Grande Com- <br />pact Commission arranged to transfer <br />the pool to Abiquiu Reservoir <br />through a paper exchange. As Abi, <br />quiu filled to its lawful capacity, the <br />pool was moved to Cochiti Reservoir. <br />However, problems of high reservoir <br />levels and seepage at Cochiti during <br />the summer of 1986 resulted in the <br />spilling of the 50,000 af in August of <br />that year, <br /> <br />Hydroelectric generation has also <br />become an important use of Elephant <br />Butte waters. A 24.3 megawatt power <br />facility was constructed and the flows <br />of the Rio Grande began turning its <br />turbines in 1940. An annual average <br />63 million kilowatt hours of electricity <br />has been generated over the past 45 <br />years at Elephant Butte, although <br />more than twice this amount was <br />produced in the high flow year of <br />1985, <br /> <br />THE RIO GRANDE PROJECT <br /> <br />Elephant Butte Dam is actually a part <br /> <br />of the Bureau of Reclamation's Rio <br />Grande Project, which consists of <br />two storage reservoirs (Elephant <br />Butte and Caballo) and five diversion <br />dams spanning the river channel at <br />various downstream locations. <br />Caballo Dam was designed and <br />authorized in conjunction with the <br />Elephant Butte hydroelectric <br />facilities-water discharged from the <br />Elephant Butte power plant during <br />winter generation is impounded in <br />Caballo Reservoir for irrigation use <br />during the following summer. The <br />dam, completed in 1938, was also <br />designed for flood control purposes, <br />with 100,000 af of its 330,000 af capac- <br />ity dedicated to regulating spring and <br />summer floods. <br /> <br />The next Rio Grande Project struc- <br />ture, Percha Diversion Dam, is 18.5 <br />feet high and lies two miles down- <br />stream of Caballo Reservoir. The <br />structure diverts Rio Grande flow <br />into a canal that serves about 16,000 <br />irrigated acres in the Rincon Valley of <br />New Mexico. The Leasburg and <br />Mesilla diversion dams lie 62 and 40 <br />miles north of EI Paso respectively. <br />They annually divert water for up to <br />75,000 acres of productive agricultural <br />land in the upper and lower Mesilla <br />Valley, 12,000 acres of which are in <br />Texas. <br /> <br />The fourth diversion dam of the Rio <br />Grande Project lies four miles north- <br />west of downtown EI Paso, immedi- <br />ately above the point where the river <br />becomes the international boundary <br />between Mexico and the United <br />States, This 18,foot high structure <br />diverts water primarily to irrigators in <br />the EI Paso Valley of Texas, It is oper' <br />ated and maintained by the Interna- <br />tional Boundary and Water Commis- <br />sion which regulates deliveries of <br />water to meet treaty obligations. A <br />few miles downstream of this Ameri- <br />can diversion dam is the International <br />Dam, from which Mexico diverts its <br />full allotment into the Acequia <br />Madre. <br /> <br />The fifth and final diversion dam in <br />the Rio Grande Project is at Riverside, <br />15 miles southeast of downtown EI <br />Paso. H.iverside Dam diverts the Rio <br />Grande flow into a canal which can <br /> <br />'g; " <br />_,:~ion-s,uppUes) .ill.particular areas'- Thes~ <br />-indude,the Elep,~ant ButtE; IrrigatiQ~ Dis;~ <br />tri~t, lhe!y1iddle}~io Grande Conservancy <br />,pi~tric_!,Jhe ~:aflLuis Valllo/ Water Con~ <br />:'servancy District, El\aso'CountyWater <br />!: imBfovementDistrict No._I, and ':},umer- <br />~ 'ous:others. Such districts are g<:nerally '.;I <br />j, ~9nsidered semipublic agencies~ anq are <br />:"_,tre,at~dpurs~,ant toa~egalframework <br />t:':;;pelled out by:state statute; <br /> <br />~"ryp'i~~'UY, a district i~,_for~eci~upon tJle- <br />:am~,rna'tive vote ofpeople1esidingwithin <br />:',,' ~h~,':pioposed district b~pndaries who <br />de's~e a moreteliable water supply'o,r <br />"';Who-need concerted efforts to' address <br />-drairi~g~:~md other costly problem~,',::rhe <br />ability tei raise revenul;." through the faxing" <br />ofpr9perty within the district gi~~6 the <br />.:ctistrid its prirfi'ary power. <br />,>'}~".' ",' "','" '," '''''', > <br />~atlY9Istr~cts'formed in the past dec~ci~"s <br />, wer'e(created in ,order to c()ntract l-Vith the" <br />:;.'Bureau.of ~edama~on for repa'ytrient of <br />c;ert~in.costs of major wate_f projects. <br />vv;thout/iuch 'a local district with the <br />;"pow:~,!,tot~Xi\,n.d therebY~u.uantee, _' ~J <br />:rep",yme~~,'of -a portioJ}"ofproje~ c~sts; <br />;t,~~J~urea.,;,_,;,oul~,be unwilling to eXpend <br />::,it,~efforts'ahd/unds tO~I:O~str!Jct th~ ~:~ <br />",w~ter~aciIities~',{~the~~l:i~~iti~ts, ho\,/ever, <0' <br />-;~i~~ lndependE:!l'tiy orany rela~io~~h,ip ~ <br />: ,with-the}ederalgoyernnieritdh~,ti:S~'~ <br />.their'oFga_~iia~i~n_~~:mtrevenu~'tai~~ng <br />;authori,ty, sirrll:ily.,tQ fo~us dn local water, <br />;iSsu~~/~1fchissuesmayin_clud~ . <br />,'rel:tabiIitating irrigation faci1iti~'s/Hnd~r~,. <br />hiking :drainage,proj~sts, orenie,i{ng liti- <br />;rgation':to p~~ect :~xisH~g wateI,righ~, ':> 151 <br />,. '-;lgainst,a perce,ve9th~,~at. <br />i '-;' M' 1'lf ~'".'-' "i!i a:! <br />tOMMUNITY~,kEQUIAS'1jl <br /> <br />ANijprtCH~SSQcrA1'iqJ:Js:< <br />: Not ailloqd'wat'er u~e ari~mariagerlleht <br />",' "--"~"'",'.",: ,","'.-, _"~;>I!' ", "f$. <br />organlz~t~()ns, are large no~ ha,,~ bee~ <br />,;"g;yen~He'power.~ole,vy a prop'~rtK:taxby <br />:, the state. Il1lact,J~el1}Pst prevalent type <br />,: ,pf,e:ntjty-that' c~lltrols"iYaterdisttibution <br />'iDth~Rio Grande b~si~has_~unctibhed <br />effec.tively for centudis.The'se;.~re the <br />c~1h~1;1nity-.~cequias:'or ditch assoCi- ~\, <br />atlOns. "-. <br /> <br />.; .,rqseslimated that 1000 acequia,~(?:ist'iri <br />'-New Mexico~ with scores in the,Colorado <br />"',.;---,,'lL!" '. --"",--, ,;,," ' ," <br />~poItionof the Rio Grande basin' as; well. <br />",',., ,,'.c, " ',' :,',_ .': ',: ,',.- '-,fl <br />~Theirpperation is based upon centuries <br />!. of-custom in which the users'of theace~ <br />, ':", ,-- "" - '.., ,,' ," -- ' ...-: ~'- <br />.H~ia Jor, l?falditch system~ collectively <br />,:,~e'e~p\:ert~inpracti~eSaI}d responsil?ili~ <br />ti~s:,in9!de~'f8 Ieceivetheir,:fairshare of <br />' thew-aler. A~~ayordom? is ejected by the rf <br />~itCh o~ners topr6petly'dis~ib,utet~e <br />,w<t,ter.~upplyand to ensure t~~t all ace- <br />quia users shoulder their shJre of main- <br />----tett,a,nce:work,($ee Chapter IVf?r further <br />bm:kground on--these instit'i.ttions',) ,', <br />'," .!t <br />: Althotl,ph acequI~s are,base_d,on tfa~itionr <br />". th~{N~~,Nexicplegislatur{has statu'torily_' <br />: recognized their authority and spelled <br />out, c,ertain provisions regarding their fot~ <br />r~'" ~? ~ .~. <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />'fii <br />