Drought Conditions Not Stopping Visitors From Enjoying Elephant Butte Lake

This holiday weekend many people will drive out to Elephant Butte Lake to enjoy the great outdoors.

Park officials told ABC-7 the water levels are only about a foot-and-a-half lower than last year because of drought conditions. They don’t think that will stop what they hope will be a busy weekend.

Out on the lake, many people already had their campsites set up on Friday. Some visitors said the park isn’t as full as it usually is around this time.

“There’s probably about half the amount of people here that are usually in the park on holiday weekends,” a visitor from Albuquerque, N.M., said.

Officials expect the big crowds to come in after work on Friday. They also blamed the windy conditions for deterring some people from getting in early.

For the first time ever, the park is offering helicopter tours of the lake through a private helicopter company from Albuquerque. The park will also hold a boat parade on Saturday to honor war veterans.

“There’s going to be a lot of camaraderie. A lot of things happening here,” said New Mexico State Parks regional manager Rolf Hechler. “We’re preparing for the biggest weekend possible. We’re ready for it.

Officials said they expect a crowd anywhere between 80,000 and 90,000 people, but they can accommodate a crowd of 120,000.

They said the only thing that could stop the park from reaching capacity is the high-speed winds that have been hanging around the past few days.

“(It’s) keeping you from going out on the water because it’s kind of hard to get back, and you can’t really see because it makes your jet ski, your boat splash real bad. It kind of kills the fun a little bit,” said Anthony Silva, a visitor from Albuquerque.

The winds created some choppy waters, but that didn’t stop the thrill seekers from getting out there. Sean Darold drove in from Albuquerque and he rode his jet ski out on the rough waves.

“It was fun you get a lot of air but the water hits you right in the face. We’ll still have fun somehow,” Darold told ABC-7.

Park officials said the lower water levels are actually better for busy weekends like this one.

“When the lake does fill up that creates some additional problems for us. We actually have more water but we have less beach which causes us to establish capacity limits because we can’t get all the campers in that we’d like to,” Hechler said.

Hechler offered a few reminders for anyone heading out to the lake this weekend. He said stay safe by always wearing life jackets when in the water and go prepared for hot weather.

“Bring plenty of water, besides beer, plenty of water, bring your sunscreen, bring some shade if you can and just enjoy yourself,” Hechler said.

Check out some pictures of Elephant Butte Lake: Aerial View Of Elephant Butte May 25, 2012