Elephant Butte Dam
Pueblo Indians irrigated and farmed the Rio Grande Valley for several hundred years before the Spaniards arrived and continued the tradition. Built between 1910-1916, Elephant Butte Dam when completed was the world's largest irrigation reservoir. It was the first large-scale effort to harness and control the Rio Grande, and its construction was critical to the historic debate over interstate and international aspects of water use.
Marker is at the intersection of New Mexico Route 177 and New Mexico Route 51, on the left when traveling east on State Route 177.
Courtesy hmdb.org
