Elephant Butte Reservoir is a reservoir on the Rio Grande in the U.S. state of New Mexico, 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Truth or Consequences. This reservoir is the 84th largest man-made lake in the United States and the only place in New Mexico where one can find pelicans perched on or alongside the lake. There are also temporary US Coast Guard bases stationed at Elephant Butte. It is impounded by Elephant Butte Dam and is the largest reservoir in New Mexico. The reservoir is also part of the largest state park in New Mexico, Elephant Butte Lake State Park.
The reservoir is part of the Rio Grande Project, a project to provide power and irrigation to south-central New Mexico and west Texas. It was filled starting between 1915 and 1916.
The reservoir can hold 2,065,010 acre feet (2.54715×109 m3) of water from a drainage of 28,900 square miles (74,850 km²). It provides irrigation to 178,000 acres (720 km²) of land.
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.
Fishing is a popular recreational activity on the reservoir, which contains striped bass, white bass, largemouth bass, crappie, walleye and catfish.
Read more about Elephant Butte Reservoir: History and Dam Construction
Famous quotes containing the words elephant and/or reservoir:
“to his eyes, Funnyface Or Elephant as yet
Mean nothing. His distinction between Me and Us
Is a matter of taste; his seasons are Dry and Wet;
He thinks as his mouth does.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)
“It’s very expressive of myself. I just lump everything in a great heap which I have labeled “the past,” and, having thus emptied this deep reservoir that was once myself, I am ready to continue.”
—Zelda Fitzgerald (1900–1948)