Elephant Butte, New Mexico's largest lake, fell from 9.6% full to 1.4% in 57 days this summer and has stayed there. The federal gauge where the Rio Grande enters the reservoir reads zero. Every boat ramp in the state park is closed. Three local governments have declared a disaster, and the State of New Mexico has said the situation does not qualify. This video follows the day-by-day collapse in the Bureau of Reclamation's own records, what surfaced from the lakebed, and what the irrigation district's hydrologist has already told farmers about next year.
Elephant Butte Reservoir, on the Rio Grande north of Truth or Consequences, is operated by the Bureau of Reclamation as the main storage for the Rio Grande Project, serving the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, El Paso, and deliveries to Mexico under the 1906 Convention. The reservoir reached its 2026 low on July 29 after irrigation releases ended, following the earliest snowmelt on record in the river's headwaters. NASA Earth Observatory published Landsat imagery of the reservoir on August 19, 2026, comparing 1994, 2013 and July 27, 2026. The Rio Grande set a record for dry river miles between Albuquerque and the reservoir on August 30, 2026. The U.S. Supreme Court approved the Texas v. New Mexico settlement on May 28, 2026. The City of Elephant Butte, Sierra County and the City of Truth or Consequences passed disaster declarations in August 2026.
IN THIS VIDEO
• The Reclamation daily numbers from Memorial Day to the bottom, and how fast the last two weeks went
• Why a National Weather Service meteorologist says the monsoon was never going to matter this year
• What the excavator on the Marina del Sur ramp is pulling up, and why some of it has to be surveyed before it can be removed
• The relay reservoir below Elephant Butte, and how much is left in it
• What the irrigation district's water consultant told the board on August 12 about 2027
• How far the dry stretch of the Rio Grande reached on August 30, and what Albuquerque did about it
• The kayak outfitter's number, the hotel's number, and the state's answer to three disaster declarations
• How close the lake is to the floor set in 1954
SOURCES
Bureau of Reclamation RISE daily storage and elevation data (Elephant Butte, Caballo, El Vado; Sept 7, 2026) · Texas Water Development Board / Water Data for Texas (Sept 7, 2026) · NASA Earth Observatory, "Elephant Butte Reservoir Runs Low" (Aug 19, 2026) · ScienceDaily (Sept 2, 2026) · Western Water (Jul 29 and Aug 21, 2026) · KRQE (May 26 and Jul 22, 2026) · KOB 4 (Jul 2026) · KFOX14 (Jun 22, Aug 12 and Aug 17, 2026) · Albuquerque Journal (Jul 26, Aug 4 and Sept 4, 2026) · Organ Mountain News (Jul 22, Aug 23 and Aug 26, 2026) · Source NM (May 28, Jul 20 and Sept 2, 2026) · KUNM (Aug 7, 2026) · Sierra County Citizen (Sept 2, 2026) · El Paso Times (Jul 16, 2026) · KVIA (Jun 1, 2026) · Drought.gov (Jun 18 and Aug 20, 2026) · Gizmodo (Sept 4, 2026) · New Mexico State Parks Division (Jul 22, 2026) · New Mexico Governor's Office (May 28, 2026) · International Boundary and Water Commission · U.S. Census Bureau
RELATED
Elephant Butte water level · Elephant Butte 2026 · Elephant Butte 1.4 percent · Rio Grande dry Albuquerque · New Mexico drought 2026 · Truth or Consequences · Hatch chile drought · Caballo Reservoir · Texas v. New Mexico settlement · El Paso water supply
This is the second Crisis Radar report on Elephant Butte in 2026. Reservoir figures are the most recent Bureau of Reclamation and Texas Water Development Board readings available at publication and change daily.
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