As Elephant Butte Dries Up, History Is Exposed

If you ever lost anything in the waters of Elephant Butte, now might be a good time to go see if you can find it. The water level is so low, all kinds of things are being exposed.

READ MORE: Amenities At Elephant Butte Were Just Upgraded

Elephant Butte is at its lowest level since 1954 and as the water dries up, things submerged long ago are popping back up including trash, debris, lost boats and equipment, personal effects and maybe even evidence of criminal acts.

I really hope I'm wrong about that evidence comment but things happen. On top of the basic, evidence disposal advantages of a huge lake, there was once a house of torture straight out of a Rob Zombie movie located nearby. That alone makes these barrels extra creepy since no bodies were ever found.

Elephant Butte is a manmade reservoir first constructed in 1916 that has provided water for irrigation to the surrounding area, including Las Cruces and El Paso, for over 100 years, despite periods of drought.

Believe it or not, even though it's current level is only 1.4% of its capacity, that's still not the lowest it's even been.  You can see how up and down its history has been below. If you want to see photos of how bad things are right now, you can click here.

This guy went on a little exploring adventure at Elephant Butte that he filmed. Even he points out those weird, almost spooky barrels among some other stuff he found. SPOILER: He does actually get a look inside a couple of them and finds nothing.

There must have, at some point in time, been something in there though. I would imagine, sooner or later, any unopened barrels will be inspected.