My Welcome Back

I am at Elephant Butte once again. 

In past years I have watched the lake level drop, and drop... and drop.  Last October, I got to this place, where I used to look across the lake at reflections of the far bluffs.  I saw a vast grassland instead.

Spending much of the summer in the San Juan mountains in Colorado, at and near the headwaters of the Rio Grande, I was rained on a lot.  Most of the rain was light, but some was heavier.  The river, when I saw it, was flowing strong and vibrant.  Looking at national weather information, later in the summer I saw that this part of New Mexico was getting a lot of rain.  Of course, the obvious expectation was that I would see water in the lake when I returned.

I was wrong.

The lake is as low as last year.  I spoke with a friend here and learned that over the summer, the lake had dropped 20 feet from when I had been here.  The storms that had come through created a lot of flooding, did a lot of road damage, and raised Elephant Butte Lake 20 feet, to where it had been.  Further south, Caballo Lake was filled.

So once again, I will look out over grassland rather than lake as the winter storms pass by.  It has its own beauty, and I am not complaining.  I AM worried for the people that live here and try to make a living from an area whose economy is based so strongly on this lake, for the agriculture that depends on lake waters that just aren't here, and for those downstream who are hoping for, and needing, water that simply isn't here.

My first hike revisited the Rock Canyon area.  I follow a drainage channel from the road to the edge of the lake.  Much new scouring was noticeable from the floods.  One formation, which I call Tuffy, The Tug Boat, was unchanged.  (OK, who remembers THAT Little Golden Book?)

There is one good result of the flooding.  Last year, I did several clean-up hikes in Rock Canyon, picking up bottles and cans and other trash left here by visitors.  This year I saw very little of that.  Presumably it has been washed downstream.

One thing has remained constant - the skies.  They welcomed me back with a most rewarding show.