Elephant Butte Dam

Elephant Butte Dam
Country	United States
Location	Elephant Butte, New Mexico
Status	In use
Construction began	1911
Opening date	1916
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Gravity
Impounds	Rio Grande
Height	301 ft (92 m)
Length	1,674 ft (510 m)
Width (crest)	18 ft (5 m)
Width (base)	228 ft (69 m)
Dam volume	618,785 cu yd (473,095 m3)
Reservoir
Creates	Elephant Butte Lake
Total capacity	2,065,010 acre·ft (2.547152329×109 m3)
Catchment area	28,900 sq mi (75,000 km2)
Surface area	36,500 acres (14,800 ha)
Power station
Hydraulic head	140 ft (43 m) (rated)
Turbines	1 x Francis turbine
Installed capacity	27.95 MW
Annual generation	38,449,061 kWh
Elephant Butte Dam
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The spillway is in the lower left corner of the picture and the power plant is located at the base of the opposite side of the dam.
Location	Sierra County, New Mexico
Nearest city	Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
Coordinates
Built	1910
Architect	Louis C. Hill
Architectural style	Other
NRHP Reference #	79001556
Added to NRHP	April 9, 1979

Elephant Butte Dam or Elephant Butte Dike is a concrete gravity dam on the Rio Grande river near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. The dam impounds Elephant Butte Reservoir, which is used for both recreation and agriculture. The construction of the dam has reduced the flow of the Rio Grande to a small stream, with high releases occurring only during the summer irrigation season, or during years of exceptionally heavy snow melt.

File:Dam at Elephant Butte, on Rio Grande, near El Paso Texas.jpg

Dam at Elephant Butte, on Rio Grande, near Truth or Consequences, NM (postcard, circa 1916)

The dam is part of the Rio Grande Project, a project to provide power and irrigation to south-central New Mexico and west Texas. The United States Congress authorized construction of the dam on February 25, 1905 and it began in 1911. It was completed in 1916 but allowed to begin filling in 1915.

Elephant Butte Dam is 301 feet (91.7 m) high, 1,674 feet (510.2 m) long including the spillway and is made from 618,785 cubic yards (473,095 m³) of concrete. The width at the top of the dam is 18 feet (5.5 m) and 228 feet (69.5 m) at the base.

The reservoir has a capacity of 2,065,010 acre feet (2.54715×10⁹ m³) of water and controls the runoff from 28,900 square miles (74,850 km²). It provides irrigation to 178,000 acres (720 km²) of land. The dam also contains a 27,945-kilowatt hydroelectric powerplant. The current turbine was installed in 1940 and generates 38,449,061 kWh per year (as of 2005). The crest elevation is 4390 ft (1338 m).

At the time of its construction, the dam was the largest irrigation dam ever built with the exception of the Aswan Dam in Egypt. It was expected that the dam would become the property of the local settlers once a water tax had reimbursed the government for the cost of construction. During construction the government used a system of 3 cables, each having a capacity of 15 tons and a span of 1,400 feet (430 m).

The name "Elephant Butte" refers to a volcanic core similar to Devils Tower in Wyoming. It is now an island in the lake. The butte was said to have the shape of an elephant.

File:Dam site at Elephant Butte, on Rio Grande, near El Paso Texas.jpg

Dam site, Elephant Butte (postcard, circa 1916-1924)