Some Borderland farmers benefited from recent rain, others didn’t

ANTHONY, New Mexico -- The recent rain has had many of us rejoicing, including plenty of farmers. But not all are reaping the same rewards.

“It’s helped us because we need it,” Adolfo Enriquez, owner of Enriquez Farms said. “We’re very dry, but it hasn’t helped us because it’s postponed a lot of our work last week. I think we worked one maybe two days.”

Enriquez told ABC-7 they’re at a standstill now until the wetness dries out. On their alfalfa, cotton and grass farm in Anthony, the rain would have been most beneficial going to Elephant Butte so they could have seen a larger water allotment this season.

For other farmers though, the direct downpour did wonders.

“On a pecan farm, it’s mostly all good because you just can’t replace that good stuff coming from the Good Lord above,” said Shannon Ivey, owner and manager of Rio Bravo Farms. 

Ivey hopes that the most recent rain means farmers will see a longer growing season.

“It’s really good for our water district because that’s allowed them to cut back on some of the flows that have come down from the dam and I’m optimistic as a grower that it will allow the district to extend our irrigation cycle a little further into the season before they have to close the gates of the dam,” Ivey said.

When the water was being released from Caballo Lake back in late May, Gary Esslinger, the treasure manager of Elephant Butte Irrigation, told ABC-7 there would be a four-inch allotment per acre for farmers. 

The El Paso County Water Improvement District told ABC-7 that while the recent rain won’t necessarily increase that allocation, it could see another irrigation allotment given toward the end of August or early September.

“All rain helps farmers all the time,” said Jesus Reyes, the general manager for El Paso County Water Improvement District. “But we’ve gotten some pretty good rain and we’ve been able to cut our release from the dam and slow it down so we can take advantage of the rain.”