Elephant Butte Reservoir

Common card · No. 336160

Elephant Butte Reservoir or Elephant Butte Lake is the largest reservoir in the U.S. state of New Mexico, 130 miles (289 km) from El Paso, Texas, and 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Truth or Consequences. The reservoir began filling in 1915, and at full capacity became the largest man-made lake in the world. Built as part of the Rio Grande Project, it was intended to revive the fertility of farmland soil in the Rincon and Mesilla Valleys. Today, the reservoir's storage remains crucial to the Rio Grande, as it provides power and irrigation water to New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico. It is impounded by Elephant Butte Dam and became part of the largest state park in New Mexico, Elephant Butte Lake State Park, in 1964. Before it was known as Elephant Butte, there were three prospective names — Lake Esperanza, Lake Hall, and Lake Engle. Ultimately, Elephant Butte Reservoir was named after the Elephant-shaped butte in its territory. The reservoir can hold 2,065,010 acre-feet (2.54715 km3) of water from...

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