Many of the challenges associated with the management of the Paso del
Norte watershed are due to its location along the border of the United States
and Mexico and in parts of the states of Texas, New Mexico, and Chihuahua.
The watershed extends approximately 340 miles along the Rio Grande/Rìo Bravo
from Elephant Butte Reservoir in southern New Mexico to the confluence of the Rio Conchas in Presidio County, Texas.
With an average rainfall of about 8 inches per year, the watershed receives
its water from the Rio Grande and the Hueco, Mesilla, and Jornada aquifers.
It irrigates approximately 200,000 acres of farmland and is impacted by the
needs of over 2 million people living primarily in the cities of Las Cruces,
New Mexico, El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Other challenges in managing the watershed are related to the 1916 damming
of the Rio Grande at Elephant Butte Reservoir in New Mexico to store spring
runoff for use in irrigated agriculture and provide flood protection. This
also altered river flows and essentially eliminated springtime flood pulses.
Since that time, the Rio Grande has been straightened and channelized to
deliver water more efficiently to irrigators and for flood protection. The
floodplain-now contained between levees-is mowed annually for flood control.
Releases of water from the upstream reservoirs only occur during the growing
season, roughly March to October. As a result, the winter flows in the river
consist mainly of return flows from agricultural drains and discharges from
sewage treatment plants. The remaining aquatic habitat reflects the
altered flows.
Mapping the Paso del Norte Watershed
The extent of the Paso del Norte watershed goes far beyond the banks of the
Rio Grande/Rio Bravo. It is a sub-region of the larger Rio Grande Basin,
extending from Elephant Butte Reservoir in New Mexico to the confluence of the Rio Conchas in Presidio County, Texas,
and includes all the land that drains into the Rio Grande between those two
points. Efforts to map the watershed (in addition to our
Interactive GIS Project) can be found at
the following sites:
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Mapping the Watershed at New Mexico State University, 2003
|
Borderland Information Center
Paso del Norte Maps for Public Access
URGWOM (USACE)
USGS Activities in Texas
Paso del Norte Water Task Force
Texas General Land Office
More Information about the Paso del Norte Watershed
"Biology of the Rio Grande Border Region: A Bibliography" (USGS CERC)
"Directory of Federal Natural Resources Research in the Rio Grande Border Region" (USGS CERC)
"Estimated Benefits of IBWC Rio Grande Flood-Control Projects in the United States"
History of the Rio Grande Project
Historic Reconstruction of the
Ecology of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Channel and Floodplain in the Chihuahuan Desert (large pdf)
Hope for a Living River (large pdf)
 |
Elephant Butte Reservoir, 1936, Library of Congress,
Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection, No. fsa 8b38268
|
"Navigating the Waters of the Paso del Norte" (HARC) (pdf)
Paso del Norte Watershed Council January 2004 Report (pdf)
Sources
Houston Advanced Research Center
New Mexico Environment Department, Surface Water Quality Bureau
New Mexico Water Connections
Pecos River Basin Assessment Program
Rio Grande Basin Initiative
Texas Evapotranspiration Web Site
Texas Natural Resource Conservation System
Texas Water Development Board
Texas Water Foundation
Texas Water Matters
