Caballo Dam
Encyclopedia
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
about 15 miles (24.1 km) downstream from Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
Truth or Consequences is a spa city and the county seat of Sierra County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population was 7,289. It is commonly known within New Mexico as T or C....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In conjunction with Elephant Butte Dam
Elephant Butte Dam
Elephant Butte Dam or Elephant Butte Dike is a concrete gravity dam on the Rio Grande near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. The river was dammed here, impounding the Elephant Butte Reservoir for recreation and agriculture, lessening the downstream flow from a Rio Bravo to a stream a foot deep.The...
, which lies about 25 miles (40.2 km) upstream, it regulates the discharge of the river in the lower Rio Grande Valley
Rio Grande Valley
The Rio Grande Valley or the Lower Rio Grande Valley, informally called The Valley, is an area located in the southernmost tip of South Texas...
of New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. Caballo serves as an afterbay for the Elephant Butte Reservoir, i.e. it stores water released from Elephant Butte for hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
generation purposes and discharges it in the dry season to provide for irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
downstream. The dam is an important part of the Rio Grande Project
Rio Grande Project
The Rio Grande Project is a United States Bureau of Reclamation irrigation, hydroelectricity, flood control, and water diversion project, begun in 1905, that taps the Rio Grande in the states of New Mexico and Texas, in the United States. of irrigated land, in a strip of land along the river no...
.
Caballo Dam is 96 feet (29.3 m) high and stands 82 feet (25 m) above the Rio Grande. It is 4590 feet (1,399 m) long and contains 33578388 ft3 of material. The elevation of the crest is 4190 feet (1,277.1 m) and the average elevation of its reservoir, Caballo Lake, is 4172 feet (1,271.6 m). The dam has two water outlets; the outlet works
Outlet works
A set of outlet works is a device used to release and regulate water flow from a dam. Such devices usually consist of one or more pipes or tunnels through the embankment of the dam, directing water usually under high pressure to the river downstream...
have a capacity of 5000 cuft/s, and the main spillway has a capacity of 33200 cuft/s. Caballo Lake is roughly 7 miles (11.3 km) long and stores up to 343990 acre.ft of water.