I’ve been meaning to put up my Thanksgiving vacation pictures, but have been busy, busy, busy (not to mention somewhat slack). To tide anyone reading this over, here is a picture of Elephant Butte Lake (warning: very large file). The lake level is down about 80 feet from normal. This is not the first time that the lake has been so low, but it is the first time that the lake has dropped so low so quickly (within one year, so I’m told). The State Park was built as a part of a CCC project during the depression, and you will note that the stairs leading down to the lake (with switchbacks) are designed to handle any lake level.

New Mexico is in the middle of a drought right now—a drought that has been running for seven years, now. That, and the fact that they are also giving a ton of water away to West Texas.

In the picture, the white deposits on the sides of the lake indicate where the lake’s normal water line was. The marina has been relocated (many times) to its current resting position; to access it, you must walk from the parking lot down the stairs/switchbacks to the pontoon bridge—no longer floating, of course—to the piers.

All this, coupled with the fact that the park is in its off season, made me feel like I was visiting the ruins of a lakeside park, not the thriving park that it was designed to be. The lake is largest one in New Mexico, and each year, is responsible for bringing tons of tourism to the area. What will happen in the lake level continues to drop?