Not much water in Elephant Butte
The Las Cruces Sun-News reports there’s not much water in Elephant Butte and other key reservoirs upstream, meaning any new water would have to come from snowmelt runoff next spring in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado’s Rocky Mountains.
Snowmelt isn’t looking promising either, as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts warm weather and low precipitation over the next 90 days in those areas.
Farmers in Dona Ana County were allocated about 13 acre-inches per-acre of water from the Rio Grande in 2016. The district considers a full allotment to be 3 acre-feet but that hasn’t happened in years. Water district officials say it’s unlikely to occur next year.
(Information from: Las Cruces Sun-News, http://www.lcsun-news.com)
