Elephant Butte reservoir near Truth or Consequences, NM. This dams the Rio Grande flowing from the north and water is released from the reservoir in late Spring to provide irrigation water for farms in southern New Mexico.
Like much of the West, due to prolonged drought, water levels in the reservoir are now much lower than capacity, as can be seen by the mineral stains on the hillside surrounding the reservoir.
As a result, annual amount of irrigation water reaching the Mesilla Valley in recent years has been only a small fraction of 'normal'.
Farmers have been forced to rely much more heavily on deep and expensive wells that draw water from a large aquifer under the valley.