SerpApi.Org
ELEPHANT BUTTE, N.M. (KRQE) – Over the last week, photos have been circulating online of trash and debris becoming exposed at Elephant Butte Lake State Park. Historically low water levels at the lake are exposing 50-plus-year-old debris, as water levels have dropped 36 feet since Memorial Day.
The water sits at 1.8% of its capacity as of Tuesday, a level not seen since the 1960s. “We’re seeing a level we haven’t seen in decades,” New Mexico State Parks Director Toby Velasquez said. “So the majority of the debris we currently see at this level is because of recent water drop that has continued to expose debris along that shoreline.”
The record low was set in June 1954 at 0.01%. Even though this summer’s historic low is above the record, it’s still uncovering a lot of hazardous material. “We’re seeing parts of the lake bottom that we haven’t seen in decades,” Velasquez said. “So it’s a culmination of time. There’s debris, metal, old tires. There may be certain sites that may be historic in nature or archeological sites that may be exposed that we need to manage.”
Last year at this time, water levels sat at 4.4% of its capacity, but due to the low snowpack and poor rainfall this year, it’s putting lakes around the state in a low spot.
“Because there has been not enough snowpack to replenish the lake, the water levels have been declining, and they can’t come back up,” Rep. Rebecca Dow (R-Truth or Consequences) said. “This year is catastrophic.”
Rep. Dow recently called attention to this after getting flooded with emails, calls, and texts from people asking her what’s going to happen with all the trash on the beach.
“It’s an economic catastrophe for my community for the recreation side of it,” Rep. Dow said. “It’s also an environmental catastrophe.”
She says what’s probably going to take some time is the federal and state regulations where everything found over 50 years old has to be surveyed to make sure it’s not an artifact that has to be preserved. “It just makes me want to cry,” Rep. Dow said. “I can’t even. When I was in high school, I watched that water go over the spillway. We jumped off the dam into the water, from the trees into the water.”
The planned work began a couple of weeks ago. But running into all the trash, debris, and hazardous waste was not expected. So the park brought in a general contractor to help, using long-arm excavators, backhoes, and other heavy equipment. “We’re pulling material off the ramp,” Elephant Butte Lake State Park Superintendent Jonathin Horsley said. “There’s decades of sediment, silt that have accumulated over the years when the lake was higher up. So we’re pulling it off, sorting through it best we can.”
Park officials expect water levels to continue to drop 4-6 inches, or 0.1% daily, until they stop releasing water July 28, so about 7-8 more feet. Once that happens, park officials said they will have a better idea of how long it’ll take to clean up.
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