July 30, 2018

Storms spur Middle Rio Grande flows

For the first time since early April, the Middle Rio Grande is flowing continuously. Storms late last week pushed water into the river and its tributaries and, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the stretch of the river to Elephant Butte Reservoir is expected to remain continuous for about a week, maybe longer if […]

Laura Paskus

For the first time since early April, the Middle Rio Grande is flowing continuously.

Storms late last week pushed water into the river and its tributaries and, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the stretch of the river to Elephant Butte Reservoir is expected to remain continuous for about a week, maybe longer if the state gets more rain.

The Rio Puerco, which empties into the Rio Grande north of Socorro, hit over 7,000 cubic feet per second late Thursday night.

Those peak storm flows are exciting to watch—whether from the banks or on the USGS stream gage website—but they are temporary. Already, the Rio Grande through Albuquerque is down to less than 500 cfs.

And as of today, Elephant Butte Reservoir is 6.7 percent full, compared with 7.6 percent full a week ago and 18.7 percent full one year ago.

For all our coverage of the Rio Grande, visit: https://nmpoliticalreport.com/tag/rio-grande/