Elephant butte irrigation district (ebid), located in the mesilla and rincon valleys in southcentral new mexico, is the new mexico portion of the RIO grande project

Ebid proposes an integrated set of system modernization measures on the leasburg canal to conserve water, improve delivery of surface water to ebid members, and stretch and maximize the benefits of the limited resources available to ebid. The proposed project is located near radium springs, new mexico, just south of the leasburg DAM in the leasburg main canal at station 63 46 and 71 10. The project consists of adding electric motor actuators to an existing check structure, known as the arguelles check, and the construction of a new metering station consisting of a 30-foot-long concrete lining, stilling well, metering bridge, and an acoustic doppler sensor for accurate measurement of flow. The leasburg main canal delivers water to roughly 31,600 acres of water righted land. Effective and efficient management of this critical main canal also impacts the water available to all of ebids 90,640 water righted acres. Adding electric motor actuators to the arguelles check allows for the initial stretch of the leasburg main canal to be improved significantly through eventual automation which will benefit all water users downstream on the leasburg canal. Automation will allow ebid to better control diversion flow rates, upstream water pressure, and downstream flow. A new concrete lining, metering bridge, and sliding rail system for an acoustic doppler sensor makes for a complete flow gauging and measurement site (metering station) that is essential to water management issues. The combination of the motorized, and eventually automated, check structure and complete metering site just downstream allows for significant improvement to the management and operations of the leasburg main canal, which will be the first of many modernization projects throughout ebids main canals.