- Reclamation
- Upper Colorado Basin
- Albuquerque Area Office
Albuquerque Area Office
The Albuquerque Area Office is one of the largest in Reclamation reaching from the Alamosa area of southern Colorado through most of New Mexico and into west Texas. Staff here manage delivery of water on the Rio Grande, Rio Chama, Pecos, and Canadian rivers from the main office in Albuquerque and six field offices in Alamosa, Colorado; Alamogordo, Chama, Elephant Butte, and Socorro, New Mexico; and El Paso, Texas. This office is also responsible for overseeing the management of nine major dams with a combined reservoir storage capacity of more than 3.5 million acre-feet that supply water for more than 439,000 acres of irrigated land and several municipal drinking water projects. They also oversee hydropower production at Elephant Butte Dam, and research and testing at the Brackish Groundwater National Desalination and Research Facility.
News and Highlights
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News Release – Aug. 27, 2025
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. – The Bureau of Reclamation will resume releases from Elephant Butte Dam beginning Sept. 3, at a rate of up to 1,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). The releases will last for five to six days and recreationists and visitors to the area between Elephant Butte Dam and Caballo Reservoir are asked to use extreme caution when approaching the river as flows may change quickly and can be swift, with the potential to overcome even the strongest swimmers. Read More »
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News Release – April 21, 2025
Reclamation prepares for poor water runoff in New Mexico as drought continuesALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Strategic coordination on water operations will again be key along the Rio Grande this summer as water managers prepare for an exceptionally dry year amidst continuing drought conditions. This year's spring runoff may be near or below the lowest on record. Read More
Water releases briefly resume from Elephant Butte Dam