 Map of the Rio Grande drainage basin | |
| General statistics | |
|---|---|
| Begun | 1905 |
| Completed | 1952 |
| Dams and reservoirs | Elephant Butte Caballo Percha (diversion) Leasburg (diversion) Mesilla (diversion) American (diversion) Riverside (diversion) Picacho North (flood control) Picacho South (flood control) |
| Power plants | Elephant Butte (27.95 MW) |
| Canals | 1,061 mi (1,708 km) (total) 596 mi (959 km) (irrigation) 465 mi (748 km) (drainage) |
| Operations | |
| Storage capacity | 2,453,413 acre⋅ft (3.026240 km3) |
| Land irrigated | 193,000 acres (78,000 ha) |
| Power plant capacity | 27.95 MW |
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 km2) along the river in the states of New Mexico and Texas.[1] Approximately 60 percent of this land is in New Mexico. Some water is also allotted to Mexico to irrigate some 25,000 acres (100 km2) on the south side of the river. The project was authorized in 1905,[2] 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 the project's dams also supplies electricity to the region.[3]
- ^ "Rio Grande Project (Third Draft)". United States Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on March 10, 2009. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
- ^ "Rio Grande Project". HowStuffWorks. Archived from the original on May 19, 2008. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
- ^ "Rio Grande Project: New Mexico and Texas". United States Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved April 10, 2009.