After orbiting the Earth in 1962, John Glenn highlighted an irrigated valley northwest of El Paso, Texas, that stood out against the surrounding desert. Man-made lakes along the Rio Grande have made agriculture possible and turned an otherwise dry area green, as Glenn observed. Using water for irrigation, farmers produce crops such as alfalfa, cotton, onions, walnuts, and the regional specialty: Hatch green chiles.
However, abnormally dry conditions in the Rio Grande basin have affected these water resources. An extreme drought has hit the region in recent years. The earliest recorded melt in the river’s headwaters in the southern Rocky Mountains exacerbated the situation in 2026.
These factors have helped push Elephant Butte Reservoir, New Mexico’s largest reservoir, to its lowest level since 1971. When the image above was acquired on July 27, 2026 (right), it was at 1.4 percent capacity. For comparison, the reservoir was almost full on June 2, 1994 (left); Levels were high for much of the period between 1985 and 2000. On July 8, 2013 (center), in the midst of another drought, the lake reached its annual low of 2.9 percent of its capacity.
Low water levels in 2026 exposed debris along the shoreline and left boat ramps at Elephant Butte Lake State Park covered in sediment. But the lake probably hit its bottom for the year in late July. Water releases for agriculture stopped after July 28, state officials said, allowing it to slowly begin refilling.
The long-term drought situation has highlighted the Rio Grande’s water problems and their broader implications. Users in both New Mexico and Texas depend on the valley’s surface and groundwater, requiring careful planning around storage and sharing. Several projects supported by NASA’s Western Water Action Office (WWAO) aim to equip water managers with NASA data and tools that assist in resource allocation.
For example, researchers developed a model that incorporates NASA satellite data for variables such as soil moisture and evapotranspiration, resulting in a near real-time tool that complements the Elephant Butte Irrigation District’s existing water allocation operations. Another project combined satellite observations of water surface heights with ground and drone data to track how groundwater pumping affects the flow of the Rio Grande, information that WWAO said can help managers manage water rights. NASA scientists are also contributing to a federal study of the Upper Rio Grande that aims to understand water needs, project future water availability, and develop data-driven tools to address these needs.
NASA Earth Observatory images taken by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the US Geological Survey and water volume data from the Texas Water Development Board. Story by Lindsey Doermann.
- KRQE News (July 23, 2026) Water levels drop to historically low levels in Elephant Butte, exposing 50-year-old debris and artifacts. Accessed August 17, 2026.
- NASA Earth Observatory (July 26, 2013) Drought dries up Elephant Butte Reservoir. Accessed August 17, 2026.
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Western Water Action Office. Accessed August 17, 2026.
- National Integrated Drought Information System (2026, August 11) Information on droughts in the river basin of the Rio Grande region. Accessed August 17, 2026.
- National Integrated Drought Information System (2026, May 14) Current conditions and impacts of the Western snow drought. Accessed August 17, 2026.
- New Mexico Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources (2026, July 22) Update on low water levels at Elephant Butte Lake State Park. Accessed August 17, 2026.
- Texas Water Facts (2026) Elephant Butte Lake. Accessed August 17, 2026.
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