Will The Rio Grande Dry Up Completely This Fall

Here in El Paso, we're used to seeing the river run dry due to the dams upstream in New Mexico. Now it may dry up before the water even gets that far.

The Rio Grande river flows through the Albuquerque area and that is where there is concern that it will dry up completely this fall due to a lack of snowmelt, a very hot and dry summer, and Albuquerque's ever-increasing demand for water. That means, not much ... if any ... water for everyone below Albuquerque. Emergency measures have already been put into place according to KVIA:

The Bureau of Reclamation has teamed up with the Interstate Stream Commission and the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District to lease the last block of water available to keep the river as stable as possible before winter.

Other emergency water releases happened earlier this year as spring runoff was poor and the monsoon season was too spotty to help reservoirs and the river recover. One of North America’s longest waterways, the Rio Grande runs through New Mexico from Colorado to Texas and into Mexico and is governed by interstate and international water-sharing agreements. - KVIA

The Rio Grande starts in Colorado, flows through New Mexico and into Texas, then alongside Texas, sort of forming a boundary between The United States and Mexico before eventually emptying into the Gulf Of Mexico. Above Albuquerque and below El Paso, it is indeed a formidable and mighty river. Due to the dams north of El Paso at Leasburg and Caballo Lake, as well as the hot and dry conditions in the Borderland, all we see around here is usually just a trickle.

For us, seeing the river completely dried up is by no means unusual.