Farmers ready for irrigation water even if it’s not much this season

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Water from Elephant Butte and Caballo Lake will be released for farmers and small tract customers beginning in June. Due to the lack of snow in the mountains of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, the spring runoff has been dismal.

Phil King, consulting hydrologist with Elephant Butte Irrigation District, said its customers will only see 4 inches of water to use by late June and early July. This is the second worse release in history; the worst was 3.5 inches in 2013. A normal irrigation season is 36 inches.

Farmers and irrigators for El Paso Water Improvement District #1 will get around 15-18 inches to use from June through perhaps late July.

Water for all irrigators will be released from the lake May 29th.

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